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This was taken Easter Sunday just after the kids egg hunt. David and I were beyond exhausted from staying up WAY to late multiple nights laughing and yacking with our family.

I'm still here...trapped under the wallpaper

If I ever get myself caught up (that'll never happen), and out from underneath the pile of wallpaper I'm pulling down in the kitchen, I'll put a "real" post up here - but until then I'm tired of looking at the Cajun Meatloaf recipe every time I open my blog. So...here's a pic that makes me smile every time I see it - it's not technically a good picture, but it does make my heart go pitter patter. More pics from this weekend coming...sometime. That's all I can promise.

I have enjoyed peaking at all of your blogs (between mountains of laundry, sink fulls of dishes, baby bottoms to wipe, mouths to feed, dogs to pin up {thanks to a cranky old neighbor}, etc.) even though I haven't been making many comments. I'll get caught up on that one day too maybe. And can I hear it for making wall paper illegal? Any seconds for that motion?

Cajun Meatloaf

I made this meatloaf for potluck Sunday...and not one single morsel of it was brought back home! It really is THAT good. This is "Pastor Ryan's Cajun Meatloaf" from Pioneer Woman. I'll be posting this on "Ciao Down" also, but I know not everyone checks out that site and I wanted to share this with as many of you as possible. Now...go ciao down on some meatloaf. Your taste buds will thank you. (Your heart, not so much.)

2 lbs lean ground beef
1 lb ground pork
3 bell peppers
2 med onions
1 bunch celery (5-6 ribs)
3 eggs
6 Tbs butter
1-2 C breadcrumbs
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbs Worcestershire
1/2 C milk
2 C ketchup
2 Tbs honey
optional: few shakes of hot sauce

Preheat your oven to 400.

Chop all of the fresh vegetables (peppers, onions, celery) into a small dice and mince the garlic. Over medium heat melt 6 Tbs butter. Once butter begins to start brown, add the diced vegetables and garlic. Add about 1 Tbs salt. After these have cooked for a few minutes add Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, nutmeg, and Cayenne pepper. Add hot sauce if you want. Next add 1/2 of ketchup. Continue cooking and stirring for a few more minutes. Remove from heat.

After allowing the mixture to cool for a few minutes add milk. Stir until combined. Next add at least 1 C of bread crumbs. Continue adding bread crumbs and stirring until mixture is a nice, thick paste. In a large mixing bowl place the ground beef and pork. Wisk 3 eggs and add to the meat. After allowing the pasty vegetable mixture to cool down a bit, begin incorporating it into the meat. Keep working all of the Cajun-Veg mix into the meat until all is blended well.

Spray a sheet pan with some non-stick cooking spray. Next, using your hands, form your meat mixture into a loaf on the pan. Make the loaf about 6-8 inches wide and about 1 1/2 inches thick. In a small bowl or measuring up mix together 3/4 C of ketchup with about 2 Tbs of honey. Slather this sauce over top of the whole meatloaf.

Place in a 400 over for about 40 minutes.

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David took this picture the other day after Lia's first watermelon session. He and Jacob were outside flying a kite and Jacob got tired of wearing his cap so he put it on Lia's head. She had a great time playing with it.

7 months!

Our baby girl is 7 months old today. I've had to laugh at myself a few times since she was born. There have been several things I thought I would never do..."if I ever have a girl"...
A)she will not have a lot of pink
**you should see her closet - it's FULL of pink

B)I will not dress her fu-fu
**she has a lot of fu-fu and I love it

C)she certaintly will NOT wear those stupid looking headbands
**a cousin of mine sent her a couple of headbands, I put them on her, and I was hooked. My girl just looks cuter in them than your average baby. ;)

D)she will not have more clothes than Jacob
**yes, she has 3 outfits to his one

So...I've eaten a bit of crow, and loved every bite! ;)

Miss Lia in her Heelarious shoes, headband, zebra print and hotpink fu-fu looking all adorable.

Watermelon Time

It's A Good Day

Check this out...I WON SOMETHING!! This was a shock to me as I've never won a single thing in my entire 32 years of living. Not even a free Coke when you take off the lid and "1 in 6" wins...nope, never even been the one in six. So I pretty much feel like I've hit the jackpot. ;) A huge thank-you to Rhonda at Sew Personal Designs. At first I thought I'd get something for one of the kids, but upon furter reflection, I decided I'm going to get something for myself. I'm a good Mom like that. ;) I'll be sure and post a picture of what I pick out once I receive it. Oh happy day.

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This was supposed to have been posted last Thursday...but it didn't happen. We'll see what happens this Thursday. ;) This is how I spend a lot of my time...rocking my sweet baby. She loves her Momma and is rather attached to me to say the least. You would think the world stops turning when she can't see me. Lia is definitely my little cuddle bug...Jacob is much to busy to sit and get cuddles from Mom now.

help please

Some of you may have noticed a while back I put a "followers" link on my blog. Some of you have put your mug up there and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks. However, today I noticed someone is following my blog that I have no idea who he is and when I click on his image, NOTHING is in English. So what's the point in following an English blog?? I don't have a real positive feeling about this. It's not in Spanish either - which, for some reason, I would feel better if it was (no I don't speak Spanish but David does and his family is Cuban/Spanish so I would chalk it up to being someone that knows his family if that was the case). My problem is I can't seem to block him. I've done a Google search on how to block certain people and have found how you're supposedly able to do this, however, I haven't been able to find the "block reader" button that is supposedly on here. Any one else having this issue? Paul, if you're a legitimate person please let me know. And to anyone else I don't know personally feel free to join my little group, just know I'll be checking in on you too. ;) I'm always happy to gain a new "friend", however, I'm not happy to gain impostors. Thanks for any of your advise!

A weekend with Trace & Trevin...and their parents

We had a great time with Brad & Lesha and my parents this past weekend...there was a "Blazing Beans Birthday Bash" (I kid you not) for General G. in the town where Brad and Lesha live. Saturday morning started with a production of local cloggers...Lia found that quite interesting...and so did the rest of us actually.




And what is a birthday party without an Elvis sighting? (He was actually very good.)


Then it was time to be "Bean Judges". Yes, we paid $2, received a bean eating kit, and sampled all manner of pinto beans. To say I was tired of eating beans by the time is was said and done is an understatement. But how many times in life do we get to be bean judges?? ;)


At noon there was the "Blazing Bean Birthday Parade" lead by the 70+ year old Bean Queen herself. I can not make this kind of thing up...it's all true! Jacob and Lia enjoyed playing with the American flags that were given out.




And no parade is complete without Texas Longhorns being ridden...right?


Moving right on along to the tea cups...Jacob was quite serious through the ride...I was hoping he hadn't inherited his dad's motion sickness!


Later in the afternoon there was the outhouse races. The day just got better and better folks! There were 3 people per team, one person had to be sitting on the "throne" as the two others pushed the outhouses around the courthouse square. Halfway around the courthouse they had to stop, change "pushers", and finish the other half. Twas quite entertaining. The biker dudes won. I'm not sure what prize was, maybe extra toilet paper?


Trace & Trevin enjoyed the race...

(note - don't I have the cutest nephews in the world!)

...as Lia can't believe what her parents are watching!


The finally of the day was the bean eating contest. Twelve contestants vied to eat the most bowls of beans. Of course it was some scrawny dude who won...he ate 9 bowls of beans in 4 minutes.

After we spent most of the day around the courthouse square taking in all the interesting sights, we headed out to look at the houses Brad is building. I'm quite proud of my brother if I do say so my self.


After cleaning up from our interesting day (and getting myself properly lobster fried) we went to Babes Chicken. Seeing as it was another local celebrity's birthday (Lesha) she had the privilege of dancing the chicken dance as the restaurant sang to her. She did a really impressive job! Doesn't she look to cool with that hat, "beak", and those "wings" on her hands. She was really impressed with us letting our server know it was her b-day. hee hee hee (But I do think turn about is fair play!)


Sunday we had the privilege of going to one of our Special Meetings. Of course things were so hectic that morning we didn't get any pictures of the kids all dressed up in their "Sunday go to meetin' clothes", but they did look smashing. ;)

All in all it was a great weekend...we may make this an annual thing. I mean, who can resist being Bean Judges and seeing the Bean Queen if they have an opportunity??

Give Away from "All Sugared Up"

I've been watching this blog for a while drooling over her products (have yet to buy some but my Anniversary and Birthday are coming up...hint hint David!!) and today she's posted a giveaway. Head on over there and enter yourself to win something delicious. ;) The Almond Sugar looks like it would be my favorite.

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I took the kids to the zoo yesterday with a couple of friends of mine. We had a great time - the weather was perfect and we were there early enough to beat the crowds that came later.

Space Shuttle Launch

The space shuttle launch this evening brought back several memories. As most of you know, I lived in Florida for a while. During that time I had the privilege of watching several shuttle launches. I'll never forget January 16th, 2003. I was working at Mayo Clinic at the time and many of the employees went outside to the top deck of the parking lot to view the launch. Watching Space Shuttle Columbia blast off was an amazing experience even from so far away. I could just imagine the exhilaration the astronauts on that fateful flight were feeling at that time. On February 1st my Dad (in Texas) was working early in the morning and knew Columbia was supposed to be making it's re-entry so he was specifically watching the horizon knowing where the shuttle should be appearing. He had seen several re-entry's in the past so he knew exactly what to look for. This time of course things were different - and he new something wasn't right. When I learned of the tragedy that had occurred I felt an overwhelming sadness. All I could think about was that I had witnessed, in a manner, those souls last minutes here on Earth. Very sobering. Fast-forward a few years and I got to experience watching the first night launch since the tragedy. That was awesome also. We drove out the the beach and parked, then walked almost to the water. It was freezing that night and the wind was unbelievable. There was a fine, salty mist blowing in from the ocean that chilled us to the bone. But watching that huge fireball appear to rise out of the water was absolutely amazing. This time I was watching with my two favorite people, David and Jacob. As the shuttle rose higher and higher in the sky there was much celebrating on the ground. Sweet memories.


Jacob and I trying to stay warm as the cold, salty wind was blowing in our faces.



That bright light in the center of the photo is the space shuttle. This picture does no justice to the sight we got to behold.



We went back out to the beach the next day - it was still cool, but the day was beautiful.

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I'm FINALLY starting the "Year of Mom" pictures. I've been meaning to start this since Jan 1 and here it is March 14th - guess better late than never! I decided to start with my "original baby". He doesn't get as much Jacob & Mommy time now that little sister is here so Thursday I took him to the mall. We had Chic-Fil-A, played on the playground area inside the mall, and finished it all off with a cookie from Great American Cookie Company. He "conked out" in the car on the way home. Ahhhh...what a great afternoon.

Of Ice Cream and Carrots

This past Sunday we went to our friend Charlie's house for lunch. The weather was perfect and lunch was served on the back porch. Now mind you, Charlie is 92 years old and built this porch himself. Well, with a little help from my Dad, my brother, and his girlfriend. Charlie's, that is, not Brad's - he's got a wife who probably wouldn't appreciate a girlfriend in the picture. Anyway, Charlie is kind of like an adopted Great-Grandfather to our kids...he loves them. And we love him.

Little Miss Lia was introduced to the wonderful world of ice cream by Charlie...
She can't get enough...she must help him by using both of her hands you see.


Nothing better than melting ice cream running down your mouth while you're outside on a perfect day listening to the birds chirp in the background.

Later that same day...screeeeech

WHAT is this stuff??
It's carrots, Dearheart - and that's how I feel about most vegetables myself. Though I can't let you or your brother know that at this time in your life. I REALLY want you to develop a taste for them. And if you don't by the time you're 30'ish then I won't make you eat them. And you'll thank me.