A SNOW DAY!

Feb 12, 2010 - When I say "snow day" I mean it this time! We had record snowfall today. We beat all of the records on the books today for a historic 12.5 inches in Dallas/ FW area in a 24 hour period! We may never see this again in our lifetime. Amazing.... It was a nice, fluffy, wet white snow. Perfect for building snowmen, having snowball fights and snow ice cream. When Lucy fell in the snow, you could barely see her, because it was deep. I have never seen it literally snow allllll day and not stop for a single minute and then continue for a completely new fresh blanket of 5-6 MORE inches through the night! Even adults with no kids were out in the snow playing today. We were an entire metroplex of children today! fun!

Chili Frito Pie and Fall...

Today has been a great day. I was off of work today for Fair Day, although we don't use this day for going to the fair for some reason. It's just really expensive and why not use it as the *bonus* day off that it is! That's what I did. All of my kids had school today, because their fair day is on Wednesday, so after about 8 am.. I was free! I went shopping, did some planning for Lucy's bday, had a lunch date with my husband and did some minor housework! When I say minor.. I really mean it. With 3 kids, to do only one load in a day of laundry is minor. What a relaxing day, then to top it off, for dinner we had chili frito pie. I would say with that alone is a sign of fall. I love to have warm soups and chili in the fall. It's so yummy and the weather is perfect at about 65 degrees and a little windy. Now, if I just had something sweet to top it off, I'd be set. All of my kid are home now, and the house is no longer quiet. Instead, it's full of 2 girls playing chase in the living room, an enormous dog chewing something up behind me..( I'm afraid to look ) and 2 boys getting ready for the Monday night cub scout meeting. Back to normal... i guess. I love normal though. It's hum drum days that really make me thankful. No one is sick right now, no one has a big school project due, there are no bills to be paid.. (ha! that's just outright funny) well there are bills, but for right now, I think I will just go play chase with the girls. Enjoy your fall night tonight too. Hey, does anyone really read my blog or do I just write for the therapy of expression?

Hot Summer Rain

I love when it rains in the summer. It never ceases to amaze me that it can be 101 degrees out and raining. I'm thankful for the tiny breeze that occasionally lofts our way as we sit out in the backyard and swing in the hammock in the rain.

Today we will celebrate our cousin Mason's First birthday!

We hope you have a super time at your Chunky Monkey birthday!

Yesterday we had pictures made with all 3 kiddos! I always go in as prepared as I can for situations like this. Josie isn't the best at new situations, so I try to prepare the camera man and I always ask for another helper to help make her laugh, and I try to remember to pack the bag with as many things that I know of that will make her laugh.. balls, pompoms, etc... and of course I try to pack "baby" just in case we need it. Don't forget about the snacks for bribery and colors and a coloring book to work in after we're done and mom is picking out pictures so that we won't have a repeat of Christmas Pictures 08 when Josie LOCKED herself into the dressing room. So I get there and have my guns loaded.... and who was the problem.......????LUCY! the giggliest baby that I know... cried. And cried. The photographer went to take the very first shot of the day and pretended to sneeze to make Josie laugh and threw this little stuffed animal... and when he did, it scared Lucy and she never did come back to her giggly self. We got some good shots at the end when Jack made her laugh, but that was it... most of them, she has this look like "what the *&^%$" looking at the photographer. It's nice! also, it didn't help that he refused to call Jack by his name and insisted on calling him Jackson even after I corrected him. I guess he thought he was in charge. Then to top it off.. he told Jack... don't touch the ball again. I don't want it in my shot. OH NO HE DIDN'T!.. I will tell you that I withheld from pulling what my husband refers to as "A Jennifer" and going off on the guy that was about 18... because I had 3 kids there in front of me that I'm trying to teach respect to, so I tried to remember to be graceful and show responsibility, but it was tough. As soon as I get to a computer that has a disc drive that actually works... since mine in permanently sticking out, I will post some of the shots.

Cracker Toffee

Cracker Toffee

1 cup of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of salt.. and boil for 3 min on med heat

pour over 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers flat on a baking sheet

heat on 350 for about 5-7 minutes

cover with a package of chocolate chips and chopped pecans let melt and come to room temp.

put in fridge for 2 hours.. and enjoy! YUM Jack!

Lunch Time Pizza Rollers :(

Well lunch time was like fire and ice today... fun, fun, fun to make... but then not fun to eat! take a look at the pics and I'm sure you'll see why. To our defense... I believe the temp in the cookbook was listed wrong because the insides were still cool. YUCK

Mexi-Tortilla Chip Casserole

Before.........................and After

Tonight for dinner we made this... it's with nacho cheese Doritos so, we loved it, but, of course Josie loved it most. If you are someone that knows even the tiniest bit of info about Josie, you will know about her love for 'dip-dip' and 'red chips' (Doritos) . It was good! Just meat with diced tomatoes, oregano, cumin, salt & pepper and a little garlic salt. Topped with a layer of cheese then chips.. then baked about 20 minutes at 350. Good stuff!