A hearty snack

Every week day I urge myself out of bed just after 6 a.m. so I can enjoy sipping my first cup of coffee of the day while checking my email and slowly waking up.

Each one of those days I get each of my children up at a specific time.
First my daughter at 6:50, so we can decide what to wear while she is waking!
Talking to her and expecting answers seems to work for her as opposed to having her clothes laid out and giving her a nudge.
At 7:00 a.m. the next to get roused is my middle child. He sleeps on the top bunk in his room, so I must heft "little" Shelby up to give him good morning kisses. She is kind enough to lift her front legs and practically jumps into my arms! She is a good alarm clock assistant.
Next at 7:02 my oldest gets puppy dog kisses and is rousted to take his regular morning shower.

While they are getting dressed, I head downstairs each day to fix lunches and pack snacks.
Everyday I stand in front of my self designated" lunch fixing" station and assemble lunches and snacks for each of my darling children.
( I have job security in these tough times!!)
This is a cabinet in my kitchen where I keep the peanut butter, honey, chips, sandwich and snack bags, and snacky foods like pita chips and goldfish.
I buy the humongous box of goldfish from Sam's which has three flimsy foil bags in it which I transfer one by one to a gallon size ziploc, for freshness you know!!
If the children are on top of it and have brought their lunchbox down, I will even pack their lunch in the appropriate container!
And, if I am feeling especially kind I may even put the lunch or snack in their backpack if it is close. (Please interpret that as, if someone is running late and is not gonna have lunch because we are racing about like crazies, which happens at least once a week despite my best efforts..I put their lunch in their backpack)

So, today...like every other day of the school week I packed snacks and lunches and left them in the assembling and packing area.
They are always arranged from oldest to youngest child, from left to right. They know their position in the line up and can quickly grab their container.
Today was also one of those days! Except, it was more like a slow motion day instead of a run around crazy day.
My daughter just couldn't get her motor running.
I keep suggesting coffee but somehow my children always turn me down. huh!?!

I quickly put my daughters lunch in her backpack and rushed back to the stairs to urge her to get a move on, meanwhile my middle son made it into the kitchen to get his lunch!
"Whoa Mom" he exclaimed

"You sure did pack sister a big snack today!!"
My oldest quickly responded..."No, that is my snack, Mom just put it in the wrong place!"

Birthday Battle

This....


...is a Hasbro Nerf-N-Strike Maverick REV-6 Sonic Green Blaster, with 6 suction darts and a quick fire rotating barrel.
(Don't be impressed...I know all of that because I copied it word for word from the Toys R Us website.)
I just chose it because of the cool green color and because it was on sale.
Buy 2 get one free!!
I was purchasing 6 total, so that was a deal clincher for me.

Why would I need 6 Hasbro Nerf-N-Strike Maverick REV-6 Sonic Green Blaster, with 6 suction darts and a quick fire rotating barrel?? Well, for a 10 year old boys "nerf war" birthday party of course.
Our two story house with its open stairs and upper hallway lends itself perfectly to an ultimate nerf battle.
It was epic!!
(I don't really say that in real life but my sons do, so....)
We partook of homemade pizza (recipe later this week), chocolate cake and then divided up for the war!
Well, they divided up for the war.
I was labeled the "war correspondent" with my trusty camera in hand.
I took my life and well being into my own hands as I roved around following the action and shooting photos not bullets!!


There are many types of nerf bullets...all of which are (apparently) not appropriate for every weapon...excuse me!! Thankfully I purchased the "correct" kind. whew.
I would have to say my favorite nerf bullet is the whistler. I screams a warning as it flies through the air...so cool.
The majority of bullets in this battle were the suction type, which land in such interesting places!!




Perhaps you think I am a bit crazy to let six 10 year old boys, a brother and a sister and 2 Dads run around my house shooting at each other for 30 minutes.

Well, maybe I am.
I took the few things that could be "in the line of fire" and put them away.
I hid my plants and intentionally left my decorative items in the boxes from being put away for Christmas time.

It was loud and chaotic.

Fast and furious...and so very much fun!

Bullets were everywhere!
Boys were running in and out of rooms aiming and firing, calling out to their team members and hollering encouragement!
One battle ended, the teams gathered bullets, switched positions and the next began.


Shelby dutifully followed me about as my trusty sidekick, just trying to stay out of the path of battle hungry boys who were armed and dangerous.

She was none to happy about all of the action, but was a good sport! I expected her to fuss at all of the craziness, but I believe she was too, too overwhelmed!

Yes, perhaps it was crazy. But let me tell you...the joy it gave my kid, well that made it all worth it.

Everyone took time before leaving to gather stray bullets, someday we may actually find them all.

Friends and Photos

I want to introduce you to Ash!
Ash lives across the street.


Ash is Shelby's best friend.
After her very rough start with our Nephew dog Dexter, I really didn't hold out much hope for her to be kind to any breathing animal on the planet.
But this dog...she loves him!
It is so sweet to see her run to greet him and jump around him as he meanders about.
He is much, much older than her so when they play...it is her nipping at him then running in huge circles around the yard while he woofs and eggs her on from a standing position.


He is such a gentle soul and so good for her!

We all need friends like Ash.
Those who are older and wiser.
Those who still know how to have a good time, but move a little slower than us.

Then there is Chocolate chip.
He is Ash's brother.

Odd, I know... but true none the less.

Would you believe that Shelby also gets along with this fellow?
When he is not stalking her that is.

I am gonna change the subject here.

When I look at my photos above, I think...hey those are pretty good photos!
I also think...hey I wish those photos looked just a little bit better.
I wish the green was greener, and the lighting was better.
I wish I knew how to run the program which would allow me to do such things but the newest version has a manual coming out, but not until the end of January so until then, I just have to wish....OR...
You know what???
There is a solution for that! If I really had a mind to get those pictures looking top notch, I would send 'em over to my friend Rachel at Sweet Tea Enhancements.
How's that for a segue??? Hee hee!

Rachel is the mastermind behind this ingenious site!
She takes photos which are good, and edits them to make 'em great!!!

Just check this out!

See what I mean!
BAM! Just a little punch to bring out all of the best qualities in a picture.


Wanna see another??
Okay!

Wowza!!!

Now this isn't just for "staged" photos either!
There is even hope for your favorite snapshot that may have the famous tree growing out of the top of little Jimmy's head problem.
Or...you know how you take 800 shots of your kids and not a single one of them has all three looking good all at once?
Well, send along the 3 photos that do look good and Rachel may just be able to make something out of it for you!!
And, what I really love about it, is that it is all done digitally. So, you don't have to drive around or make any meeting times!
Go check out her gallery of before and afters! Maybe it will inspire you to dig through that box of photos for that shot that you just love, if it weren't for the strange bug that landed at just the wrong time. (or any other random reason for the shot to be weird).

This one right here (taken by my other friend at Frugal Fotography)...is one she did editing on for me.

When I am old and gray, well grayer... this photo will still make me melt!!

Well, it is a new year.

Oh, Happy New Year!
Now what was I saying?

Oh, yes...it is a new year!
Big changes are a 'comin round here.

Okay, not really!
I thought...hmmm it is a new year maybe I should change my blog layout or coloring or style in some way.
Then I thought...hmmmm I chose it to be the way it is because I like it that way, so why change what I like?
Some day I may just log in and think to myself...ick, what was I thinking?
But until then, why fix it if it ain't broke?

Just thought I would tell you that!

Oh, and I have to go to the dentist tomorrow to finally get my toothache fixed.
I called in the Thursday before Christmas and for some reason they couldn't work me in. Huh!?!
I have that anticipation of the dread of the pain but the anticipation of the happiness of not having daily pain thing going on.
I hope I can sleep! hee hee

I got all the ornaments off of my tree!

I cleaned and straightened my art room and found a cool bead box that I didn't remember that I had. It will be so handy and nice!
My friend who gave it to me
(like a year ago, but I put it away and didn't bead for awhile and then it got "lost" in the move)
came over the other day.
She was kind enough not to say hey why haven't you used that yet when I went on and on about how great it was gonna be to use it.
I had a light go off suddenly as I watched her patiently listen to me and said, "Hey wait a minute...didn't you give this box to me, like a year ago and I put it away and didn't bead for awhile and then it got lost in the move and now I found it and I am gonna just love it!!!"
Isn't it wonderful to have friends who know what you need and love you for all of your crazy right brain messiness too!

Ohhhh I gotta run. My husband just said, "Come on, I will teach ya how to play x box." We keep teasing our children that I stay up late at night to work on my x box skills but really all I know how to do is pick outfits for my avatar. She is cute let me tell ya!
So, I am gonna run...I am not even gonna go back and proof this at all. It is typed I am leaving, goodbye!
Oh, and Happy New Year...I did say that right, cause I meant to.
Bye.

A gift!

So, my husband was out in the backyard grilling the other day and our neighbor shouts over the fence...

"Hey, would you all enjoy some peppers?"

My husband responded quickly,
"Well, sure. Jennifer loves to put peppers in food, we would enjoy that."


He continued by asking,
"What kind of peppers are they?"

Our retired, generous neighbor gave a hearty chuckle and said,

"Well, I can tell you that they are not banana peppers as I thought!"

"I pulled one of these ripe peppers off and took a nice bite of it ready to enjoy!"

He was able to put out another hearty chuckle before continuing...

"My mouth caught on fire fast and I ran into the house to slug down some milk...and I don't even like milk."

Yes my friends, our neighbor passed over the fence these peppers.


Funny, I thought immediately of what a fun photo they would make.
It never occurred to me to actually cook with them!

Why? Well, I will tell ya why (in case you can't tell by looking at them).

These are habanero peppers. It is reported that they are at least 50 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper.
Supposedly, they have a distinctively sweet, tropical fruity flavor and an apricot aroma...I guess that is if you can get past the heat to taste that!!!
Do you need another fun fact??
Okay!
The smaller and thinner the pepper the hotter it will be. Fascinating!

We are having company for dinner so I will be doing some extra cooking today.
I think maybe lasagna and some of my famous chocolate chocolate chip cookies.
Or Gumbo and my famous chocolate chocolate chip cookies.
Or I could make Beef Stew and my famous chocolate chocolate chip cookies.
Either way, I am having some cookies!

Gingerbread Cookies

Shhhh, I am up early, again! It is just me, the dog with her nose neatly tucked into her new blanket, my latest cooking adventure, and my camera.

My oldest son has been requesting Gingerbread men cookies. I find that when I cook something desirous for this child, he comes out of his room more. He unhooks from all things teenagerish and is just my kid begging to be the taste tester.
I stall him off as long as possible...it keeps him coming back often you see!

I have always been a little gun shy about making gingerbread cookies. First of all, I haven't always had a great affinity for ginger...or molasses for that matter.
Oh, and there was that time when I made some from a box mix and no one would eat them, not even the dog we had at the time.
I do cringe at the memory, as do the other two people who were alive in this house for that event.

Well, we no longer feed our dog anything but dog items, so she wasn't going to be a good gauge for yumminess or not.
I had to go to a place I trusted to find a recipe.
( I really wasn't up for trial and error on this one.)
However before I could do that, I opened up a blog I read called Smitten Kitchen, and right there for that day was a recipe for Spicy Gingerbread cookies. She had gone to the go to source as well!
Come on you know who I am talking about right?
Why, Martha.
Martha Stewart of course.

Since Deb at SK already took the time to type out all of the instructions on this cookie, I am not going to go to that effort. I will just use my time to comment on the process and outcome.

The dough was super easy to make. Just like almost every other cookie you start by creaming the butter and sugar, then adding the egg.
Well, that is how I start anyway.
I like the instant gratification of beating the butter!
The amount of spice in this cookie is a tiny bit off putting, but I went ahead and put my trust in Martha and Deb, and ask that you do the same with me.
They are oh so spicy, but in such a smooth and wonderful way, you won't regret it I promise.

I did not have my camera out yesterday so I cannot put a photo of this next move up, but I have confidence in your ability to comprehend what I am telling you.
The original recipe tells you to make up the dough then separate it into three parts, wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge to chill; which is what I did despite the fact that I had halved the recipe and had ridiculously small balls of dough to refrigerate.
Sometimes I am just running on auto pilot, which frankly is not a very safe setting!!

Here is my opinion on cold cookie dough rolling.
It is a hassle!
It takes the fun out of cookie making!
Something must be done to make it a more acceptable task.
As I worked with this dough I remembered a technique I had used in the past, but had forgotten since I have been making so many drop cookies.

Place the freshly made dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and gently roll the dough into a sheet of appropriate thickness. This must be done when the dough is room temp or it will tear your plastic wrap, making this an abject waste of time.
Place this into the fridge to chill on a sheet pan, then when it comes to cutting time just take this baby out and cut away.
As you cut out the shapes, the dough will come to room temp again and you can then take the scraps, join them all together, roll them between the wrap again and put 'em in the fridge again.
Repeat until you are sick of it and just decide to put the fun shaped scraps on the pan for cooking.
I cannot imagine dealing with a full recipe of this dough, whoa! Half was plenty for me!

I decided that I would go the Royal Icing route for the first time in my life.
Ohhhh the gorgeous cookies outlined with a pristine edge and filled to perfection with the flow icing.
The artist in me just can't get enough of the beauty of a royal iced cookie.
The lame weak wristed old woman in me says forget it, the gorgeousness is not gonna happen.

I mean, I thought it was gonna happen.
In my minds eye, I saw it happening!

Something in me must have known this was going to flop and that is why I chose to make the colors I did.
I am in serious need of food color replenishing because all I had to work with were turquoise, red and yellow.
So I chose to make coral with the red and yellow and stuck with the turquoise as it came out of the bottle.
Mmmmmm turquoise and coral.
That is such a lovely color combination...
...on say a chunky bold necklace, or an outfit for a cruise, or leaf and acorn shaped cookies because I couldn't find the gingerbread men shapes!!!

Watch out Martha!

(I skipped reading the part that said to separate them with wax paper so my cookies have crumbs on them this morning.)

Everyone in my house is awake now and is seeing the difference between the previous picture and what is on the plate now!

Every person in this house has approached the desk, reached a hand out while simultaneously saying, "Can I have a cookie?"
When I tell them "NO!"
They all immediately came up with the same comment.
"Why do YOU get to have cookies for breakfast??"
I firmly state that I am not eating cookies for breakfast which has consistently elicited the response of...
"Then why are there only one and a half cookies left on the plate?"

I am outraged!
I am being accused of eating cookies for breakfast!
Is it not obvious that I am working on a blog post here???
I would never, ever eat cookies for breakfast!

Sorry I got distracted there, back to the cookies.
Piping is not easy! I feel that with practice I will certainly get better at it, but I don't have a great desire to do it again anytime soon. (have I told you about my weak wrists that don't take well to overworking?)
The cookies beneath the crazy icing are supremely good!!
They are soft and chewy and full of bold spicy goodness.
This recipe is a keeper for sure.
The icing color combo and skill level...not so much!

Obviously everyone in my family approves and would eat these cookies for breakfast if I let them.

But, I am a good Mom!
I denied them all and sent them away to eat oats or something while I finished my blog post!

Yup, almost done!

Groupon.com

Good Morning blog world!!

I was thinking...

as I lay snuggled in my warm bed this morning under 6 layers of covers because my room reaches arctic temperatures despite the heat blowing, because you know there is that one room in every house that is just always hot or always cold and you can't do nothing about it...

that I haven't written in awhile.

We have been enjoying a lot of relaxing family time around here and since I choose not to specifically write about my family it takes a whole chunk from my pool of inspiration.
Remember, that is why you hear so much about the dog.

Who by the way, is doing great!
She got a new blankie for Christmas, and she loves it!

She has spent the last two nights upstairs snuggled neatly upon it instead of sleeping in her bed.
Which is her crate...in my arctic room.
I think she is making a good choice there.

Well, I didn't come today to write about my puppy, but she does provide inspiration!
I came today to give you a tip!
I am pretty sure one of my Tennessee Sister in Laws emailed this tip to me about 5 months ago. Sorry that I haven't thought to share it with you until now.

Groupon is what I am referring to. Collective buying power is their tagline.
Here is where you can read more about how it works, but I will give you the skinny as well.
Each day I receive an email stating what the deal of the day is. It is commonly 40-60% off of services or products.
For instance, today's deal for the Houston area is:

$20 for $40 Worth of Upscale New American Fare at SouthStreet Dining in Tomball

The business of the day sets a minimum of how many of their deal they want to sell for that day and that day only, and once that minimum is met then the deal is on!
Usually by the time I check in each morning the deal has already gotten to this point.
Some things may not interest you in the least...like spray on tanning sessions or bootcamp exercise classes.
Others like gourmet food stores or your favorite clothing store might be worth your money and time.
So go check out the Groupon website, choose your appropriate city and see if it is something you would enjoy.

Gotta run!