Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Skewers

These are always so yummy.
Mouth watering yummy.
It is a plus that it is a pretty healthy snack.
HG helped me put all the ingredients on our extra large tooth picks.
Or mini skewers.
Oh I wish I had taken a picture.

What you need:
Cherry tomatoes
Fresh basil
Fresh mozzarella balls (usually sold in a round container already in perfect size balls.)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C balsamic vinegar + some extra
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half length wise. Slice the basil to your liking. Take a toothpick or skewer and put on a tomato, basil and mozzarella. Repeat. Continue until all items are on a toothpick or skewer. I drizzle with balsamic vinegar and then salt and pepper. Mix 1/2 C balsamic vinegar and the 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil for the dipping sauce.

Perfect party pleaser!

Pool Party

We spent our Memorial Day with dear friends in a pool on Lake Lewisville.

There was lots of food, laughter and water guns.

HG only got out of the pool to pee and eat.

Once.

She said she was holding her tee tee until finished.

The Deels have a beautiful house and the perfect little pool set up over looking the lake.

I'll post some of our food recipes next.........

BBQ & RIBS

Tonight, we headed to Irving for dinner.
Uncle Mark and Miss Amanda were in town.
HG wants their attention all to herself.
It's precious.
I'm sure it drives them bonkers. :)
The husband's mother slaved away in the kitchen while most were shooting hoops.
Or trying to.
Mostly, Miss Amanda was whopping them pretty nicely.

Our $5 Memorial Day & 4th of July swim suit.

I didn't know she even brought it.

Then she announced she had to go get ready.

After playing in her panties for an hour outside.

Catch me if you can.

I'm sure the neighbors were loving some Dora panties.

Really wants to be a big girl.

Miss Amanda showing the boys how it is done.

Where is the ball?

Someone please give me a boost.

We filled our bellies with one too many starters.

Followed by bbq chicken, ribs, homemade potato salad, spinach salad, baked beans and rolls.

There may or may not have been an ice cream bar or two and some cookies.

Thanks for the dinner and good time!

This makes two nights in a row that we are all out past 10.

Tonight was nearly 11.

You know you are officially old when you've normally had a bath and in bed way before the news.

Not asleep but in bed.

The late night adventures are sure to catch up with us soon.

Tomorrow is a fun pool party with some yummy recipes.

Ranger pictures continued.....

Ranger Game

A Holiday weekend isn't complete without a sporting a event of some kind.

Lucky for us, one of our games happened to fall on Saturday night.

When we arrived, our truck said 99F.

It was hot.

Not much wind in the stadium.

My khaki shorts, were dripping from sweat.

Looked like I peed my pants.

By 7:30, the sun down and it honestly wasn't too bad.

HG LOVES the Ranger games.

Loves them.
After each home run and fireworks, she would scream for another.

Then cheer and dance.

A large pickle is always a game must for us.

Topped with a little mustard.

Daddy bought her Cotton candy.

I knew my red TOMS would come in handy.

They were so comfy.
Lil' Ranger fan.

Waiting on the game to start.

There ended up being a family of 45 behind us.

Most of the family enjoyed sunflower seeds.

So did the back and inside of my shirt.

Gross!

I wanted to slap them silly.

One girl was uncontrollable.

She kept throwing a hard slap bracelet at those around her.

It only hit me once or I would have said something.

Even with all that going on, we still had a blast.

Jason and a work friend sat next to us.

Justin and Ryler next to them.

HG kept wanting to watch them.

I guess she thought Kalli would magically appear if she watched long enough.

3 day weekend

We had a busy day.
A crazy busy day.
I'll blog more about that later.
We left at 11, got home close to 10.
That kind of worn out.
HG and I did manage to have cupcakes in daddy's truck.
A huge no no! Then we got to have dinner at Rosa's tonight.
It was just what we needed to keep pushing along.

Have a great weekend!

8 fears

1. Cancer. We should all fear it, I hate it.

2. Something happening to those most important.

3. Flying.

4. snakes!

5. Child abuse never going away.

6. No end to children's hunger.

7. My blood thinners not working properly and something happening to baby.

8. Something happening to me.

Light Fresh Cobbler

As if eating cookies weren't enough, I have cobbler baking in the oven.
It should be ready exactly when I have to walk out the door to get the little one.
Hopefully it will be done.
I bought fresh peaches while traveling down to Houston this past weekend.
Cooper Farms in Fairfield has a nice variety of fresh produce.
They were pretty small and turning really fast.
I think I threw out 7 today just because they were too nasty.
The rest, baking in a light cobbler.
YUM!




What you need:
6 medium peaches, sliced
6 1/3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons reduced-calorie margarine (I just used regular country crock)
1/2 cup nonfat milk



Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a large saucepan, combine peaches, 1/3 cup of the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and cinnamon; toss to coat peaches.
Set pan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Cook until mixture thickens, about 1 minute.
Remove from heat and transfer mixture to an 8-inch square baking pan.
To make the topping, in a large bowl, combine flour, remaining tablespoon of sugar, baking powder and salt.
Work in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add milk and stir until flour mixture is evenly moistened.
Drop 8 tablespoons of topping mixture onto peach mixture.
Bake until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 20 to 25 minutes.






This will also work nicely with canned peaches and I won't tell anyone your secret.
All in all, this is a very low fat dish depending on which margarine or butter you use.

Play dates, gym & Target

Yesterday flew by.
I learned that sunscreen is on clearance for a reason.
I learned that my french fry addiction is still present after pulling through McDonald's for a drink.

Tuesday after dropping HG off for MDO, I headed to Kohl's.

She LOVES dresses.

Seriously Loves them.

My friend Nicolle's son took this picture of HG.

Isn't it cute?

He was just snapping away.

She was so interested in the camera.

And what Boyd was doing. We love the park.

Notice, she is in a dress.

We started in shorts, tank and tennis shoes.

She put on a dress and her crocs.

They are adorable! She is just too funny!

Yes, I have boxes on in this picture.
They are just pulled way up.
The other side of my leg is white.
Right down the middle you can see the line.
HG's shoulders and face were fried.
That sunscreen is in the trash.
Oh- don't you just love the potty too?

After our park date, HG slept 3 hours.

I had to wake her at 5:15 or I knew it would be a late night.

It actually still was.

I think I told her she was going to get a spanking 15 times.

Maybe if I would have followed through on the first threat, the other 14 times wouldn't have happened.

Jax and Derc stayed with us last night and came over around 7.

The kids played well until 8:30.

I knew it was past Jax's bedtime and Derc's had arrived.

I put pjs on and Jax was out like a light.

Derc got to watch Olivia at 9 and then he followed and crashed in minutes.

9:30....I put HG in my bed and I shower.

10:30....she is still up so I lube her shoulders again.

11:00.....the threats start and her pottying every 2 minutes begin.

11:30.....I hear her snoring.

Goodness gracious!

She as up at 6:30 this morning for milk and 7 for the day.

I bet she is cranky when I pick her up from school.

I made the gym today for the first time in years.

2 years I think.

Don't worry, I didn't over do it.

Just the treadmill and elliptical.

It helps me a whole lot.

Like a whole lot.

I love the fact that many pregnant women work out until they deliver.

After, while walking through Target I got this crazy hunger.

Like belly growling and the whole isle can hear it.

I helped myself to cookies.

Well, they were called snack crackers but goodness they were sweet.

The husband comes home tonight.

We're planning on pizza and salad from Vito's.

YUM-O!

Mark and Amanda are heading in tomorrow.

My dad is coming over for lunch on Saturday.

(didn't I just get saying how I love his love for HG??)

Ranger tickets on Saturday evening.

Mass on Sunday.

I think the husband is going to the Byron Nelson.

Swim party with friends on Monday by the lake.

hooray for 3 day weekends!

9 Loves

Of course I love my daughter, my husband, my family. Those are all obvious.

These are my fun loves.

1. I love Coca Cola Classic.

2. I love white sand beaches.

3. I love laughter.

4. I love that it doesn't matter what I look like, my friends are still my friends. (Which is good these days!)

5. Sundresses.

6. I love Chick Fil A. Goodness, I love that place!

7. Sonic happy hour was one of the best inventions. EVER.

8. I love birthday parties. They make that person feel so special and thank goodness we made it another year. :)

9. I love wine.

10. I love that HG tells me your the best mom at least a million times a day.

Fresh Strawberry Salad

I've been meaning to post this salad for a while.
We LOVE it.
My MIL made it for a party one year.
When ever I see it somewhere, I always order it.


Fresh Strawberry Salad
2 pkgs of Spinach or mixed greens, washed and dried
2 pints of Fresh Strawberries, washed and sliced lengthwise
1 cup walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup green onions, sliced thin, optional
1/4 cup Craisins, optional
1/4 cup feta cheese
Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
Briannas Blush Wine Vinaigrette or Poppy Seed Dressing
To spinach or greens, add the above ingredients and mix gently.
Add dressing just before serving.


You can't go wrong with this salad.
So yummy!!!


Hope you all have a great evening.
We have two extra kids spending the night.
HG is on cloud 9.

Ten Secrets

I saw this on a blog that I follow and thought it would be fun to participate in.

I have to agree with Mommy Musings, it is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

1. I am secretly glad that baby #2 is a girl. I just wanted a healthy baby and can.not.stand. people who have break downs over the sex of their child. I would have been over the moon if it was a little boy. BUT..#2 is the follow up of #1.

2. I was secretly terrified, not scared but terrified to tell HG if it was a baby boy. Silly, I know. But since day one, she had been so excited about her baby sister. She just knew it. She has been asking for a baby sister for a long time and I was terrified of her big crocodile tears. :(

3. I love pickles and mustard. I'm talking love it.
4. I once smacked a cowboy on his wedding night at the Tavern in the Gruene in Gruene, Texas. They were in a bar in thier wedding attire, flirting with me and he made a move and touched me in places he shouldn't have. ON HIS WEDDING NIGHT. I asked him nicely to please stop, tried to ignore him and then he started talking about the husband. I kept asking nicely for him to stop and finally said that I would stop it for him. Pop, right in the nose. I didn't even wrestle with my siblings so not sure where that came from. But I warned him numerous of times.

5. I have a coke addiction. Coca Cola Classic that is. I want my one a day. I crave it.

6. I'm sad Oprah is going off air. She's been a part of my life for like 26 years. I remember my mom and her friends watching it when I was really little.

7. I love All My Children. Trashy Soap but I have watched for years. I also love the name Greenley. Chris vetoed it.

8.I love parties. Kid parties are the best ever. I love helping others with parties. I miss my house in Keller terribly, one reason being the parties.

9. I love wine. Like love love love love wine. I love it with grapes and cheese (or a little cheese). I love it with Italian food. I love it in the bath tub. I love it with a good book and a thunder storm. I love it even on a tail gate. I hate that it stains your teeth. :)

10. I love that my dad is overly involved in our lives. He has learned not to cross the line so it is nice and enjoyable. I love that he is addicted to HG. Most parents, you only hear from them a couple times a month or once a week if lucky. Usually, he calls us each day or texts. It means a lot. He drives 3 1/3 hours just for a lunch or dinner date.

Invitations & thunder

Not many pictures today.

It was a normal day for us.

A normal day that involved very little cleaning or putting away of clothes.

Yes, bags are still packed from the weekend.

I think I might attempt to unpack them tonight so they get a little break.

HG is on her last very days of MDO.

She is very sad.

I assured her I was more upset about it.

She loves it.

I love it.

Today she came home talking about God and how she has to be quiet in Church now.

Maybe they learned about not talking in Mass today?

Ha, because she surely expresses her opinion when she joins us rather than the nursery.

While I school, I picked her up some dresses from Kohl's.

I saved $45.

I am not sure if I am giving them to her or they are her birthday.

Decisions, decisions.

Then I hit up Michael's for her birthday invitation items.

Yes, her birthday is in July.

We are having it right when we return from vacation.

June is going to fly by.

Time with Cousins.

Family coming to stay with us.

The husband travels for 10-15 days.

We're heading to Texarkana for those days.

I think you get the idea.

June will be over before it even really starts for us.

So.....with that being said......

I have ALL of her invitations almost done.

There wasn't too many luckily.

But cutting out Minnie ears was painful.

Hopefully I will have them all out by the 16th.

Different invitations we are mailing.

All are adorable.

HG loves them.

She can't wait.

I can't wait for a house for birthday parties again!

After school, we stopped for lemonade and ice cream.

Wow, all that sugar sent baby into flipping.

I can't feel a whole lot.

But I can feel her flipping.

I'm sure I'll start feeling her more and more over the next few weeks.

There are storms all over DFW once again this evening.

We have not yet been hit here in Grapevine yet.

Maybe they all went north of us.

Or maybe they are on their way.

I can hear thunder.

I have been watching dark clouds for 3 hours.

Not a drop of rain yet.

I have friends in Tulsa heading to safe houses right now.

I couldn't imagine.

So many prayers going out for them.

Tomorrow morning we are meeting friends at the park.

We are going to let the kids run all their energy off.

Hopefully the ground will be dry.

HG has a blanket she just has to take for a picnic.

And tons of strawberries already sliced in a container.

She loves her strawberries.

I was going to put her in bed tonight at 7.

Do I really want to wake at 7 in the morning?

I think we'll settle for 8.

:)

Goodnight

Back home

Seems I say that far too often.
I can't wait to actually have a home that we feel like it is home.
And that we actually enjoy being at.
Hopefully with out elephants or the frat pack living above us.
Somewhere we can dance to Zac Brown while cooking dinner.
Gets kind of nuts doing it right now.




The little one and I arrived back in Dallas around noon.
Just in time for the wild storms.
And hail.
Oh the hail.
It was mad.
Not big but so much of it.
The sky just opened up when we hit north Irving.
There was so much lighting, rain, flooding and wind coming through Dallas.
But not hail.
Boom!
It came out of no where.
There was so much traffic and nothing we all could do.
We drove about 3 or 4 minutes before we got to a bridge we could actually fit under.
Everyone was taking cover.
I grabbed my cell and turned on the video camera as I pulled under the bridge.
I pulled under a bridge with many other cars.
I had the east bound lane blocking me.
The hail was still coming in under the bridge.
The wind was shaking our cars.
All the mess woke HG up.
She thought someone was hammering my car.
I made her out her blanket over her just incase.
After about 10 minutes, it had stopped enough to drive.
The random ones still lingered.


The weather has been extra rough this year.
The storms, tornadoes and all the many deaths.
My heart goes out the those in Joplin.
And to those still recovering in Alabama.
Both towns, I am very familiar with.
Close family friends were hit in Alabama.
Our old company has a store in Joplin.
They all made it out safe.
Many friends from NW Arkansas have traveled up to help.
Taking supplies, lending a helping hand and just a hug.
A hug goes so far.
I am ready for the storms to be over.
Looks like a chance tomorrow......ugh!


HG and I are laying in bed.
She is barely hanging on,
Blue Clues is keeping her eyes peeking through.
We were up at 5:10.
She slept in the car until 6:30.
It was close to midnight by the time we had dinner, showers, packed and climbed in bed.
Then I had to get up to pee a million times during the night.
Chris made his flight with less than 5 minutes to spare.
I'm sure he was jogging through the airport.
Houston airport was further away than we had planned for.
Then there was more traffic than we had planned.
HG and I met a dear friend, Denise, for breakfast at 6:30.
She is such a sport to get up extra early to visit us.
It had been far too long between us visiting.
Her daughter, Shea Noel, is due this summer.
I can't wait!
She will be such a great mom.
Now if only she can get her sister on board with kids.:)
Their mom will be over the moon.
After the early breakfast, we headed back.
Stopping along the way.
HG loves Bucee's.
We were trying to delay enough so the worst part of the storms pass.
It didn't happen.
We were so worn out and wanted to get home.
Pulling into Dallas, HG falls asleep.
Rain will do that to you.

We had a great trip.
JD and Kendall let us take over their apartment.
Poppy treated us to great meals.
El Tiempo, Sky pizza, Barnaby's.
Uncle Mark and Amanda came to play on Saturday night and have dinner.
Sunday we headed to Port Arthur to see my family.
It was soooooooooooo wonderful seeing them.
Gee gee is 90 years old and stunning.
We had a late lunch of Texas Roadhouse.
HG was sick the first few hours but Dr mom helped with labor position.
No lie.
I ad her doing all kinds of positions you only know about from birthing classes.
A late afternoon swim with Uncle JD and Kendall was just what HG had been waiting on.
She is a little fish.
And wants everyone to swim.
Even if the water isn't too warm yet.
After dinner, we met Mark/Amanda and Mike/Amber for dinner at a yummy Mexican place.
HG was given a super cute bracelet by Aunt Amber.
Uncle Mark is headed home this weekend and HG seems to think she can make all his plans.
He is going to swim, fish and eat pizza at CEC.
Ha!
Maybe pizza at daddy's work.
Fishing by daddy's work.
And if time swimming at the apartment.
oh no, he IS coming to stay with me mommy.
Oh my precious little one.


We always enjoy spending time with family and friends.
It will be so nice for them to come visit us once moved.
And hopefully be able to throw on skies and head,
But then again, the beach wouldn't be too shabby either.

5th Anniversary

Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on May 20th.

We had planned on a trip.

But my brother's graduation fell the same weekend.

So our trip got put on hold and off to Houston we went.

We celebrated with lots of food.

Seriously.

On the way down to Houston, we stopped for lunch at Sam's.

The father in law had mentioned the place a few times so we decided to give it a try.

It definitely lived up to his words.

Sam's is a place where you can order off the menu or have the buffet for about $10.

We all 3 of course had the buffet.

A salad bar with all the fixings was the first trip.

The next several consisted of fried chicken, roasted chicken, BBQ brisket, chicken fried steak and smoked sausage.

We had enough food for 3 days.

We couldn't forget the vegetables -corn, beans, green beans....all soaked in butter.

Or the desserts - ice cream, every kind of pie under the sun and cobbler.

Yes, we tried many of the desserts.

After making it to Houston and settling in, we were off for our big date.

HG stayed with Uncle JD, Kendall and Poppy.

She was exhausted but so excited to be there, she kept going until after 10.

The husband and I headed to one of our favorite spots, Vic and Anthony's.

It is seriously one of our top places to dine.

Even in Vegas, we stop in for wine and the seafood tower.

I enveyed the husband's tall glass of red wine while I sipped on my water.

Our first course was broiled portabello mushrooms with basil oil and fresh mozzarella.

Next up was a chopped salad for me and lobster bisque for the husband.

All the starts were very tasteful.

For the main course, the husband had a steak and I dined on cold water lobster.

YUM!

i was so full that I let him choose the side dishes.

Au gratin potatoes and creamed spinach.

Of course, his favorites.

While they were delicious, I seriously could only handle a couple of bites.

We opted out of dessert but they bought us one for our celebration.

It was really sweet of them.

The husband had an after dinner drink while I let me food settle.

I was worried about rolling out of there.

If you haven't been to Vic and Anthony's, I highly recommend it.

The rest of the evening constisted of River Monsters.

ha!

You know you are a married couple if you are too exhausted to do anything else but watch the tube.

I actually had to search for pictures from our wedding. They weren't on our home computer but I managed to find them on an old snapfish account. Here are a few snaps from that day. I honestly have no idea who actually snapped the pictures because they were from numerous dates.