Sunday, March 28, 2010

We All Scream For Ice Cream!



It was a beautiful Monday afternoon. The girls had come back home and Sarah was visiting. That's always a fun time! Then Bri realized she didn't have her History book and so she took Sarah with her and drove back over to her Mom's house to get it. But it wasn't there.


And stopped at Sonic on the way. But didn't bring back anything for anybody else!


Thankfully the familiar sound of the Ice Cream Truck grew closer to our house and Blaire came running out of her room asking for dollars. I had 2 in my car and Duane had 1 in his truck, so out to the street the girls ran with their 3 dollars. With Duane and I screaming after them "creamsicle" "fudgesicle".


Except the Ice Cream Man has apparently raised his prices in the many years it's been since I ran out to his truck on the street. So Sarah came back to scrounge for more dough and I grabbed a bunch of quarters from the change jar for her.


The trip out to the curb was eventually successful and the girls came back smiling!


I think the novelty of a musical truck roaming the neighborhood is what makes one crave an ice cream bar from the side of the road though. Because we had Great Divide bars in the fridge and they are way better than the ice cream that comes off that truck! And my creamsicle.... It's still in the freezer. Two weeks later!

And that History book Bri had to go get? It was in her car the whole time.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Missing


Christmas 2009 was almost upon us and I told Blaire that all I wanted was Pioneer Woman's Cookbook. She said she'd get it for me! I was so excited. I couldn't wait for Christmas to get here, so I could actually hold in my hands what I had been reading about for months.

Then, a few weeks later, she told me she wasn't getting it for me. She said she found something else that she thought I would really like. Uh, HELLO! I want the cookbook! But what could I do.

She knows me pretty well and she knew how much I wanted that cookbook. If she says she found something I would really like, then she must have found something I would really, really like.

A few days before Christmas I walked in the door after work and found this in my kitchen:


She had made me a new Lucy!

My Grandpa, with the help of my Gramma and my Mom, had made me the first Lucy 14 years ago. Over the years, and after one snowy Chicago winter, Lucy deteriorated, until she was unable to stand on her own anymore. She was now spending her days propped up on a work bench inside the barn. And I missed her.

Blaire, with a bit of her Daddy's help, used the first Lucy as a pattern and secretly made me an almost exact replica. I love that kid! And she was right, she had found something that I would really like better.

But I still wanted that cookbook. And was thrilled when it arrived in the mail, a gift from some great pals of mine. I was even able to send it away to PW, who graciously signed it for me and mailed it back.


Then the cookbook went missing.

A week before I noticed my treasured book was gone, Bri came to me and asked if I had seen her hairdryer. It was a valid question, since I've been known to take her fabulous hairdryer before. But I hadn't taken it this time. We looked all over the house. Several times. We asked if she had taken it to her Mom's house. We asked if she had taken it to a friends house. We searched Blaire's room. And asked Bri over and over again if it was in her room. It was nowhere to be found.

Last weekend I went to get my cookbook. And it was gone. Vanished. I searched the house and couldn't find it. We came to the conclusion that someone broke into our house and stole the hairdryer and the cookbook. That had to be it! Until we realized that if someone broke into the house, they probably would have taken TVs and video games, not a cookbook and a hairdryer.

Sarah was over that weekend and was getting ready to go back home. She needed Bri's car keys and I can't remember why she needed them, but it doesn't matter why. What matters is that when she was looking for the keys, she picked up some clothes at the end of Bri's bed and there was the hairdryer! Bri had been sleeping with it for a week and had no idea it was there. We had a good laugh over it. Then I told Sarah to find my cookbook.

But she wouldn't. And it remained missing.

Until yesterday. As I was getting Duane's golf clubs for him, I had to navigate my way around the treadmill to the spot where he keeps them. That's when I saw it. Sitting on the little plastic book holder on the treadmill. And I remembered that day, so long ago, when I was walking on the treadmill, reading all the wonderful, butter filled recipes that I wanted to make.


See all that dust?

I guess it's a good thing that it was on the treadmill that I found the cookbook, because it will make me think, every time I open that cookbook and unwrap a stick of butter, that I also need to dust off the treadmill and go for a walk.

Let's see how long that lasts!

Plant Kitties


Duane leaves for work everyday and I think he goes to work at a chemical plant. I think this because that's what he tells me. I've even been out there and have seen these big tanks that makes it look like a chemical plant. I've also been out there on two separate occasions and have come home with a kitten each time. I think my husband works at a cat farm.


Duane is working this weekend and he called me up wanting to go golfing with the guys after work. Except that he had taken his clubs out of his truck before leaving in the morning. Me, being the great wife that I am, offered to drive out there and bring him his gear.


Walking into the warehouse, I was greeted by two, very skittish, cats. They were adorable, but wouldn't let me near them.


I followed them around the warehouse, up and down those aisles. What a great place for a cat to live! Lots of places to hide, climb, sleep. Apparently these two are inseparable. And they are identical except one is orange and one is not.


Some time back, all the cats, and there are several, were caught in traps and taken to the pound to be spayed and neutered. They were then brought back to their home on the farm...errr, chemical plant. They also clipped one ear on each of the cats they fixed, so it's known which ones still need to be taken in. And they did it for free.


There is also a black cat that I didn't see. She's the one that I really wanted to visit though, because she is the one that would let me pet her. She must have been off sleeping somewhere. Or chasing mice. I've been told that she's the most tame of them all. But it wasn't meant to be yesterday. Maybe next time.


Mr. Wayne, another worker out at the cat farm, takes care of them. He was the one that transported the kitties to be fixed. He is also the one that feeds them. And he even comes out on the weekends to make sure that they have food. Which means, while they run from everyone else, they don't run from him. And they use the golf cart that he uses to get around the plant, for their afternoon nap.


I sure am glad that someone loves those cats. And maybe next time I'll bring some catnip with me. And some jingle bell balls. For sure that will get those kitties to love me too.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Just Dance



Blaire spent the night at a friends house and all she could talk about when she came back home was this game she had played on the Wii. "Can we get Just Dance" "Let's get Just Dance" "I want to dance, can we get that game?". So one morning, while she was still sleeping, I went to the Walmart and I got that game.

And I have to say it's the best video game I have ever bought. They love it. They can't get enough of it. They dance, take a break, and dance some more. They dance at night and they dance first thing in the morning. They dance until they can't dance anymore. And then they dance again.

And they have favorites. Oh yeah. Favorites that we hear over and over and over again.


Like this fun little song by the Caesars.


Wind me up, put me down


Start me off and watch me go


I'll be running circles around you sooner than you know-o


A little off center and I'm out of tune


just kickin' this can along the avenue, but I'm alright


cuz it's easy, once you know how it's done
You can't stop now, it's already begun


you feel it, running through your bones


This was a fun song to dance to!

Over and over and over. Until you start wondering Who Let the Dogs Out?? Or you're craving Mashed Potatoes. Or you want to Pump Up The Jam. There are so many different songs to dance to, so if your Groove is in the Heart, go out and get this game!

Oh, and I beat Blaire once :) Obviously the game doesn't know if you're really dancing or not, just if you can move your hand with the controller correctly. LOL.

Fruit Pizza

Bri isn't much of a breakfast eater. Besides the fact that she doesn't wake up until around 1pm on the weekends, she doesn't like milk, not much of a cereal eater and if you make her pancakes they get smothered in Hershey's Syrup. But she loves a good fruit pizza! Simple to make and, besides the sugar cookie crust and the cream cheese and sugar pizza sauce, it's full of fruit and pretty healthy!


All you need is a tube of sugar cookie dough, a 8oz package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 TSP vanilla extract. If you want, you can also make the crust on your own, using this recipe.

Roll out the sugar cookie dough and using a 3 inch circle cutter make as many pizza crusts as you'd like. Following the directions on the package, bake the cookies.

While the cookies are baking, mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until well blended.

Slice up your choices of fruit for the toppings. We use bananas, grapes, strawberries and kiwis. Give yourself a good amount of time if you're using grapes, since you only get about 4 slices per grape and you'll have to slice up a lot grapes to feed your hungry kids!

Once the cookies are cooled, let the kids take over! All they need to do is spread the cream cheese pizza sauce onto the cookie and cover it in whatever fruit they'd like.
They will love them!

Enjoy :)

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Cheeseburger Pie


Duane brought me home a recipe from work last week! Mrs. Brenda, whom I adore and Duane gets the pleasure to work with, gave it to him to give to me and he kept asking me when I was going to make it. I had stuck it away in my old recipe binder when I was cleaning the counter off and if you've ever seen my old recipe binder you'd know it was going to be lost to the world!

So I called Duane up on my way home from work and asked him to brave that old recipe binder and find the Cheeseburger Pie recipe from Mrs. Brenda! He was up to the challenge and after shuffling through the many folded up recipes that I put in that old binder he found it and gave me the ingredients over the phone. Luckily, there were only 6 items that I didn't have and needed to pick up at the store. My memory isn't all that great and if it had been 7 items I'm sure I would have forgotten one of them! You should have heard me all the way to the store: ground beef, 8oz tomato sauce, sharp cheddar, onion, bell pepper, pie shell, ground beef, 8oz tomato sauce...and, well, you get the picture.

I made that Cheeseburger Pie tonight and now I'm kicking myself for filing it away last week, because I'm sure the girls would have loved to eat it. Guess I'll have to make it again next week.


The only thing that I would change when making it for kids is to saute the onion and bell pepper to soften it up a bit before baking it in the pie. I enjoyed the crunch it gave the pie, but I don't think the girls will, and the softer it is, the less they notice it :)

RECIPE

Filling:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 TSP oregano
1/2 TSP salt
1/4 TSP pepper
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup fine/dry bread crumbs
8 oz tomato sauce
1 frozen pie shell

Cheese Topping:
8 oz sharp cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 TSP mustard
1/2 TSP worchestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 425.

Brown ground beef and drain.
Add the rest of the filling ingredients to ground beef and mix well.
Put filling in pie shell.

Mix cheese topping ingredients together and spread it over the top of the pie.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Jump Jump Win


It was January 24th, 2010.
The Saints were playing the Vikings.
In the NFC Championship game.
Yesss, I said NFC Championship game!!


But before the game started, some jumping had to be done.


It was a beautiful day.


Sure, the yard was muddy.


It had rained and rained and never seemed to stop raining in January.


But January 24th was a beautiful day.


And the Saints were in the NFC Championship game!


And we all know what happened after dat :)

Wilson

Do you remember Wilson on Home Improvement?
He was Tim's go to guy whenever he had a problem...which was always.
Anyway, Wilson's full face was never shown during the 8 years of the show, except on the finale.

And Bri continues that concept...


Here are a few pictures of Bri at Christmas... 2009.
See... 2009 that was just 3 months ago, so I'm not THAT far behind!!


A nice picture of Bri with her new jammies.
Blaire is the monkey girl in the family, but these colors just shouted Bri's name to me.
And they make me smile every time I do laundry now :)


Oh look...eyebrows!


And we have an ear!



And a forehead.
























And eyes!!

So that's pretty much the extent of Brianna, Christmas 2009.
Hope you enjoyed her lovely face :)