Pictures and Prayers

Our camera broke before our trip to Houma to visit family this Thanksgiving.  Fortunately for us, we are blessed to have a generous Poppa who helped us to get a new one.  Here is our Thanksgiving in pictures:

And say a prayer for our littlest man as he will be having a colonoscopy this Tuesday.  You can also say a prayer for the clear liquid diet that we have to do tomorrow.  Lord knows that's no fun even with a bag of jolly ranchers and some gatorade...

Bon Appétit!

For weeks I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and finally, we have arrived.  We are officially enjoying our Thanksgiving vacation!

Last week the boys both enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast at their schools.  Isaac's class had a very age appropriate feast with turkey cubes and pumpkin cupcakes.  He had a great time and brought home a feathered headband and three sweet corn sprouts that he planted at the beginning of the month.  Orry's school invited all the parents and siblings to join the students for a Thanksgiving feast provided by the cafeteria.   I wasn't too thrilled about taking the two little ones to a crowded cafeteria to eat cafeteria food, but it meant a lot to Orry that we go, so we signed up for 3 meals.

We ended up not making it to Orry's lunch.  Isaac's doctors appointment ran long and we ended up stuck in traffic due to an accident.  We did get to see Orry finishing his lunch and decided to take him home early so that we could start enjoying our vacation that much sooner.

Our baked stuffed pumpkin!

This week we are going to travel to Louisiana.  We will dine on a wonderful Thanksgiving feast cooked by my wonderful mother.  And so we have come to the topic of this blog.  Holiday foods.  Yummm...I'm salivating already.

Now, I've never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner.  So I won't be giving you any pointers on getting that done.  But I will give you a few ideas of things you can make that sure bring about that holiday feast feeling.  These are things that we've made over the past couple of weeks.  Things to bring about that holiday cheer.  The aromas that fill the air.  The familiar tastes that come once a year.  Let's get to it already.  I'm drooling.

Mulled Cider

You will need:

• 1 gallon of apple cider (filtered or unfiltered)
• 1 Tbsp of honey
• 4 Tbsp of mulling spices (Best bargain is to find this in the bulk spices, if you can.)
• 6 cinnamon sticks
• cheese cloth and string (for the mulling spices)

After you tie the mulling spices in a square of cheese cloth (or use a tea ball), add everything to a large pot and boil for 20 minutes.  If you would rather do it in a crock pot you will need to make sure you use filtered apple cider and cook it on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  

Either way, it's delicious when consumed warm on a cold evening!

Baked Stuffed Pumpkin

Here's the recipe that I sort of followed.  I did take some good ideas from the recipe.  They are 1) that you should bake it at 350 for 2 hours, 2) that the pumpkin should be filled to the top (don't leave any room), and 3) that the amount of liquid you use should make the mixture look moist, but not like it's swimming.  That being said, here's what I put in mine:

• 1 lb bulk pork sausage, cooked
• 3 cups rice, cooked
• dried currants
• 2 diced apples
• cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, oregano, salt, pepper
• 2 cups Italian cheese blend
• spinach and arugula
• enough milk to make it look moist
• note: I used a medium sized pumpkin.

The basic idea is this.  Cut the top of the pumpkin off and clean it out really well.  Generously salt and pepper the inside flesh, all around.  Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet or in a large enough casserole dish (parchment should be used to prevent sticking).  In a large bowl, mix all your stuffing ingredients together.  Stuff that sucker.  Put the lid on and bake for 2 hours.  If at the end of two hours you notice that it looks a little too liquidy, take off the top and let it bake for another 20 minutes to bake off that excess moisture.  When you serve it, be sure to get some of that delicious pumpkin flesh in with the stuffing. 

What a treat!  Just make sure you invite guests over if you are making a medium to large pumpkin because this can sure make a lot!

Peppermint Ice Cream

*This recipe is for a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.  I'm sorry if you don't have one and still want to make this ice cream.  I can't help you.  I can however say that I've loved every minute of having my ice cream maker and consider it to be one of the best investments I've ever made.  And by investment, I mean that we spent 15 dollars on a used one that we found on craigslist.  Cha-ching!

You will need:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract
• 1 scant cup of crushed peppermint candies

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the cream and extract.  If you would like, you can add a few drops of green food coloring to make it look minty or a few drops of red to make it look pepperminty.  Get your machine together, turn it on, and pour it in.  After 20 minutes, add in the candies.  Let it all swirl around for another 5 minutes.  At this point you could eat it, but it would be like eating really soft serve.  We put ours into a container (32 oz yogurt container holds almost all of it) and freeze it for 2 hours.  That way it scoops nicer.  

Ours lasted almost 24 hours.  I'm sure we could have disappeared it faster than that if we tried.  

I certainly hope that you all have a great Thankgiving.  Break out the sweat pants and feast away!  And if you have time between bites, tell me all about some good holiday recipes that your family is trying this year!

Hallelujah!

My baby girl is growing up.

She's growing up despite how much I try to get her to grow down.

She can put on her shoes (and yours if you're not looking) all by herself.

She can run really fast (into the street if you're not looking).

And now she can use the potty!

I have no potty training horror stories to tell this time around.  No poop trail starting upstairs and ending downstairs.  But we are fairly new at this.  Maybe I'll spare you the details of our adventures, if there are any "adventures" in the future.  

Troy finally convinced me to start in on the training.  We had 2 or 3 days of cleaning up puddles, but here we are, 2 days with no accidents and counting.  I'm really amazed at how easy it's been with her.  But then again, she's got two brothers to look up to.  And she really digs their under-roos.  I just don't know if Hello Kitty can compete with Lightning McQueen.  

So here's to you, my big little girl!  (Just don't flush a whole roll of toilet paper down toilet when I'm not looking)

Pass the Manners, Please

Brothers will be brothers, but this is getting ridiculous.

Orry can't seem to keep his hands and his feet to himself.  Lately we've been seeing an increase in hitting and punching, and kicking and screaming.  Pass the Tylenol, please.

So in an effort to curb the negative behavior, we've grounded Orry from the computer for one week.  The punishment started yesterday and already we've learned two things.  1) Orry really likes the computer.  I think we've really hit him where it hurts, so to speak.  And 2) Seven days is like a lifetime to a young kid.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to hear the phrase "Can I get on the computer now?" about 10 times a day for the next 6 days.  Pass the wine, please.

Now the challenge is keeping his mind off the computer and getting him interested in doing other things.  Good thing the weather is beautiful these days.  We have the option of spending time outside in the warm sunshine and cool breeze.  Oh, the joy of the short fall season here in the South.  Other things to do include sorting all of our LEGOs (can you hear me rolling my eyes?) and homework.  Homework.  Homework, homework, homework...

I was never really keen on homework.  I remember completing assignments minutes before they were due.  And for some reason, I didn't really think that kindergartners would have homework.  I was wrong.  Wasn't the first time.  Won't be the last.  

This last Monday, Orry's class had a "big" project due.  It was about community helpers.  He had to pick a community helper that he would like to be when he grows up and he had to report on what the helper does, the tools he uses, and how he contributes to the community.  I read off the list of community helpers that was given as an example.  Computer technicians, no.  Landscapers, no.  Flight attendants, no.  So I asked, "Well what do you want to be when you grow up?"  A paleontologist.  Excellent.

So here is a clip of him practicing. 

It's too bad that we can't have worked on the project this week.  Would have been a nice way to pass the time.  But there is always more work to be done.  Addition, reading comprehension, penmanship.  Or maybe the best thing we can do for the next 6 days is work on our manners and listening skills.  Pass the straight jacket, please.

The Land of Plenty

Houston is a big city.  The Land of Plenty.  On any given day, there are handfuls of things to do. Yesterday was a prime example.

HMNS had a dino day going on.  There was a farmer's market, an International Festival, a British Festival, a couple of movies playing at different outdoor venues, and the AHA Houston Heart Walk.

There was no way that we could have done all those things.  Let's not forget that weekends are a chance for finishing that long list of things that should have been done during the week.  Like recycling, grocery shopping, and buying new shoes.  So we could really only choose one special thing to do.

Lucky for us, the choice was easy.  We had a few filters that the event had to pass through in order to be chosen.  Firstly, we wanted to do something on the southwest side of town.  We wanted to meet up with some lovely friends in that neck of the woods, so that narrowed it down to two things: the farmers' market and the International Festival.  Secondly, it had to be cost effective (i.e. free).  The International Festival was free.  The farmers' market was technically free, but you know that we would have spent money on ugly tomatoes and local honey.  And finally, it had to be kid friendly.  The International Festival won since it was put on by the Fort Bend ISD and meant to educate children and showcase the diversity of the school system and community.

The kids had a great time.  They had "passports" and collected stamps.  They collected little knick knacks (which are knick-knacking up my house as we speak...) from various countries.  We even squeezed in some arts and crafts before we had to move along on to the next tasks.

Recycling was next.  And then the kiddos finally got to meet little Miles.  And lastly, I managed to get our grocery shopping for the week done.

But we never could have packed our day clear full.  Nope, not this last Saturday.  There was no way that we were going to miss the LSU/Alabama football game.  And boy, are we happy that we didn't!  Troy and I just love a good football game.  We especially love a good LSU football game.  And hopefully our kids will love LSU football as much as we do.  And according to this article, they are likely to.

So we donned our purple and gold, and we got our shoutin' voices ready.  We were ready for the fight.  I'm sure that if you watched the game and weren't invested in the team like we were, you probably would have found it to be a little boring.  There were no touchdowns and the score stayed tied for most of the game.  But me, I'm invested.  At various times throughout the game I was holding my breath and wincing.  At other times I was jumping and screaming.  During overtime, I was doing all of the above.  My kids were trying to sleep and pleading with me to stop yelling.  Oops.  But in the end, we won by 3 points.  Not much, but it was plenty enough for me.

Geaux Tigers! #1!!!



I can't wait for next week.  I don't know what's in store, but I'm pretty sure that we'll find something to do!

The Line Up

We had a Luigi (minus the mustache because a certain little boy complained to the point of tears about how itchy the glue was on his face).

Look at that shiner.

Our resident Pterodactyl was present.

And bringing up the rear were the Bees.

There was Baby Bee.

And Momma Bee and the Beekeeper.

Can you see our grumbly bee?

We had a great Halloween.  Troy took all the kiddos door to door while I made dinner and handed out candy.  We finally had to turn out the lights since we ran out of candy and had to put the kids to bed.  October was a lot of fun, but alas, on to November!