Why is it?

I have a week off and we have doctors visits planned for every day except today.  Yesterday, the kids went for their yearly checkup.  No shots!  Can I get a woo-hoo?  Tomorrow the husband and I get our annual skin cancer check.  Thursday, Jake has an orthodontist appointment and then we’ll go straight to the eye doctor for checkups for all and hopefully some contact samples for Jake to try out.  Then, on Friday I have my hair appointment. So, this is the only days for me to get other things done.  I planned on getting the oil changed in my car and taking Jake to Wal-Mart to spend some of his money.  Instead, I click the DVR button on my remote and watch last week’s Bizarre Foods episode.  Then, I remember that I have Flowers in the Attic saved as well, so I watch that.  In the meantime, I finish reading all of Jorge Garcia’s blog and determine taht I like him so much more than I ever did before.  He is a very funny man! Then, I see that The Wiz has just started, so I watch that too.  Now, it’s almost 2pm and Jake & I are still in our jammies and Bailey & Reece are playing in the backyard.  I still have no intention of getting off my couch any time soon.  And that’s ok!

Seriously Good Eats

This is a crab dip that honestly may gross you out.  I mean, it’s cold, it’s gelatenous, but trust me on this: it’s wonderful.  This is my mother-in-law’s recipe and it is one of my favorite things in the world.   Serve with some lovely crackers and you won’t disappoint your guests.

Kathy’s Crab Dip

 

1 can cream of mushroom soup (no water)

1 envelope unflavored Knox gelatin

1 cup thinly sliced celery

2-3 thinly sliced green onions

1-8oz cream cheese

1 cup mayo

1-2 cans crab meat

Ritz crackers or snack crackers

 

Dissolve gelatin in 3 T cold water…set aside Heat soup and when heated add gelatin Let soup and gelatin cool Add remainder of recipe, mix well Season with garlic powder, onion powder and salt to taste Chill in mold over night.  Unmold and serve with crackers.

How great is this?

Dave’s parents got us a webcam for Christmas. Now the kids can talk to their Grammy & Grandpa in person any time they want! Bailey had fun trying it out tonight!

I’m down to posting recipes

So, since I have no motivation for el bloggo, I figured I might as well post some recipes. I’ll add one any time I feel like it- you have to try it and let me know how it turned out! I’ll even give you some long handed down recipes!

The first recipe is Dave’s grandmother, Babs’ enchilada recipe. Babs is from Spain. I guess I say that because these are relatively authentic…and simple! Boy, do we miss Babs.

Babs’ Enchiladas

2 lbs ground beef or more depending on number of enchiladas
1 package Chorizo sausage (don’t leave out- it’s the secret!)
Chopped black olives
Green onions
Grated Cheddar cheese – sharp or extra sharp
Flour tortillas
Enchilada sauce (canned – big cans or about 4 little ones)

*Brown beef
*Add cooked chorizo to beef and mix well
*Warm tortillas to make them easier to fold.
*Put light layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of baking pans
*Fill each tortilla with beef and chorizo mixture
*Add some chopped olives
*Add some chopped green onions
*Add some cheese (do not be stingy with the cheese)
*Fold sides of tortillas over mixture (you can use tooth pics to secure if too full. *Place enchiladas, folded side down in baking pan.
*Once baking pans are full with enchiladas, ladle enchilada sauce over all enchiladas.
*Cover enchiladas with grated cheese.
*Place aluminum foil over enchiladas
Bake 350 for 30-45 minutes, until hot
Extra enchilada sauce should be available when serving enchiladas

Enjoy!

Stone Mountain Christmas 2008

My lovely weekend

Yes, I know it was 27 degrees at times, but my weekend was wonderful because my very best friend, Lesley and her little boy, Giovanni, came in town for 3 days.  We packed a lot into those three days!

First, I took off work on Friday and we went to The Flying Biscuit, my very favorite breakfast spot. I had my favorite- eggs on top of love cakes (black bean corn cakes) smothered in tomatillo sauce, sour cream and feta cheese, with a side of grits and flying biscuits with cranberry apple butter of course.

Lesley had her first fried green tomatoes, which were covered with goat cheese-yum!  G had oatmeal pancakes which had a very strange texture from the oatmeal, but were totally addicting!

Here is G in the restaurant.

Then, we headed over to Perimeter mall.  I haven’t been there in ages- it is so nice.  I was pretty peeved that they don’t have a Hollister.  I mean, really.  Who the heck doesn’t have a Hollister??  That was the main reason for me going to the mall- Christmas presents of Hollister t-shirts (on sale of course) for Jake.  But, finding my new favorite store, Anthropologie, made it all worth while.  I’ve decided that if I ever win the lottery, I’m just going to buy the whole store. 

After that, we head home to take the kids to their birthday dinner- Japanese steakhouse, of course.  Bailey turned 9 on the 13th and Jake turned 12 on Monday.  The kids had fun with the warm hand towels.

…about Dave’s head…I’ll just leave you with “stupid human trick” and you can use your own imagination…

This was Giovanni’s first time at a hibachi and I was kind of concerned.  I shouldn’t have been- he had a blast! This was the look on his face the whole night.

Our hibachi chef was quite funny.  He even posed for me!

I also had the best drink I’ve ever had.  Seriously.  You know how much I love lychees.  They are absolutely my favorite thing.  My favorite fruit, my favorite drink (which I can only find at the Asian market),  my favorite candy (again- Asian market only) my favorite flavor of all time.  Well, new to America is Soho Lychee Liquor.  Yee haw! They made a drink there with it and it was just lychee yumminess.  Next time I go, I’m making them give me the recipe. Here is the loveliness which is my new favorite beverage.

After that, we headed over to my mom and dad’s house to drop Jake off to spend the night.  They brought out their bin of ooooold McDonald’s toys and we all had fun. I think Lesley and I had more fun than the kids!

The next day we headed out to Stone Mountain Christmas.  Lesley just couldn’t get over how amazing Stone Mountain was!

It is pretty darn cool!

Here are my goofballs.

This would have been a cool Christmas card, had Jake not made a silly face.

After walking around the Christmas village for a little bit, we decide to go up the mountain on one of these.

Jake keeps telling me he doesn’t want to go up and can’t understand why he can’t just wait in the car.  LOL  By the time we get in line, he is hysterical- he is sobbing, hitting me and calling me an idiot.  Um, yeah.  My response?  Suck it up, be a man, you.are.going.on.the.skytram.  Here he is halfway up the mountain.

We made it to the top!

There is nothing like a sunset on top of a mountain!

Jake LOVED running around the top- it looks like the surface of the moon.

So, we’re ready to ride down and somehow, Jake talks Lesley into hiking down with him while Bailey and I take G town on the Skytram. Great idea, right?  Sure, the hike wasn’t bad.  But, the fact that it took them around the other side of the park and they had to walk miles back to the Christmas Village was just not in the plans.  So, an hour later, with wobbly legs, they finally find us!

And then my camera dies…

If you have kids and you haven’t gone to Stone Mountain Christmas yet, I recommend it.  The village is adorable, the Christmas Train ride was great, unfortunately we didn’t get to see the 4-D Polar Express, but we’ll get that next time.  The best part was the Snow Angel show at the end- fireworks, snow (soap suds) falling from the sky and a real flying Snow Angel- she was actually flying above us- held up by wires.  It was very cool!

The next day, they went home and I cried, as always.

Goodbye!

Not that I’ve been updating recently- the begining of the school year really wears me out- but Dave and I leave on our 7 day cruise on Saturday.  We begin the trek down to Florida tomorrow!  I can’t wait to blog about it!

First Day of School!

Jake started his first day of 6th grade and Bailey started her first day of 3rd grade today.  I can’t believe they’re so old! Bailey & Reece are in the same class together this year, so that is really nice!

 

Girls trip to Florida

I’m finally back to blogging, after a wonderful week in Florida visiting Lesley & Giovanni.  Here are some of the highlights from the trip.

Here is Bailey on her first flight.

Giovanni missed Bailey!  He wouldn’t let her hand go on the drive home.

The next morning, we quickly got in the pool.  Man, do I miss having a pool.

Imagine our surprise when Giovanni points to the corner of the screen and yells, Iguana!  Yep, an iguana has decided to spend it’s days in the screened in pool.

You know me and spiders.  I am facinated by them.  I was so happy to see what we, as kids, called crab spiders. Tell me these aren’t cool.

Then, we headed to the beach.

 

That night, we went to the local Elks lodge to play BINGO.  I said to our table, “I just need an I-19.” Within a few seconds the caller said, “I-19″ and our table errupted in screams! Here I am with my winning ticket and my $50.

The next evening we took the kids to Clematis by Night, a really cool thing they do on Clematis St. in West Palm Beach.  There is a live band, food vendors and fountains.

That night, I hear all this noise in the kitchen- I thought it was Lesley.  Nope, it was Howie, the dog getting into trouble.  Yep, that’s a garbage can lid around his neck.

The next day we send Giovanni to daycare and we walked around Delray Beach. Here are some pics of Bailey in front of some cool trees.

 

That night, we went to sit by the water, play in a park and eat at my favorite pub.

Here is Bay being silly with her yummy pub food.

Bailey & Giovanni had to pose in front of the funny statue in the pub.

Next was the fabulous Lion Country Safari.  It was hot, but it was fun!

First, you go on a drive through safari.  We saw all kinds of animals, from elephants, to ostriches, zebra and monkeys.  Then, you walk through a zoo like area and then a small water world.

Our favorite thing was to feed the giraffes and the birds.

Bailey also enjoyed playing with Matilda the snake at Lesley’s house.

Back to the beach it is.  There were sea turtle nests everywhere.  They were huge areas with signs posted warning you not to disturb them.  Very cool stuff.

There’s nothing like a sunset at the beach.

Our last night there, we went and had dinner at Lesley’s parents house.  First, we had to drive by the house I grew up in.  It was strange because they had made the whole left side of the lot into a nursery, so it looked so small.

Bailey’s looking for tadpoles in the pond.

Lesley, Giovanni & Annie in the pool.

We had a fabulous time!

My new obsession

Bento boxes and Bollywood.  What the heck?  What are these two “b” words? 

Bento boxes are a lunch box system used in Japan. Here in the US, they are primarily called laptop lunches.  Look at this fabulous, and environmentally friendly lunchbox!

Here is a more traditional bento box, as used in Japan.

Our school lunches are so unhealthy, so I’m going to really, really try to make the kids lunches this year.  Now all I have to do is convince Dave to let me spend $70 on two lunchboxes!!! 

Look at all these yummy lunch ideas! 

Can you stand it?

Now for Bollywood.  What is this Bollywood, you say?  Bollywood is the Hindi-language based film industry in India.  I’ve always been intrigued by the dancing and the stories- it’s so beautiful.  I LOVED watching the first Bollywood dance on So You Think You Can Dance tonight!  I thought that Katee and Joshua did an amazing job!  They were just so fabulous in such a hard genre.  I can’t wait to see more from that choreographer.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  The dance starts at 1:19 on the video.