You Make My Day!

I was picked this afternoon by the ever-lovely traceylalala. *squeeeee* It's like winning a friend lottery! :-)

Pick 10 people and give them the "you make my day award". If you're picked, you are charged with picking 10 of your own!

There's no rhyme or reason to my list, no ranking of order.

cupcaked
redwink
1grl_revolution
bonnykate
ginky
bigbrain61
daphyn
dim_stars
mostcurious
prosodic

*throws confetti rocks*

Date afternoon.

I had all these plans and errands for what we were going to accomplish today, but then Philip told me last night about an appointment he had this morning. It was smack in the middle of all the things I had planned, so there went the blueprints for the day.

Instead, I slept in until 10, got up, took a long shower, and he arrived back home. Then we scratched the entire day's errands for the one fun thing: a movie. We grabbed some lunch on the way, then plopped ourselves down to an early matinee of Date Night.

Liz Lemon & Michael Scott? It had to be good, and it definitely was! We both really enjoyed the movie, and it was a nice, easy afternoon. We strolled out of the theatre/mall by 2:30, and we made it back to the base and home almost half an hour before the boys arrived from school.

When we pulled in the driveway, Philip noticed a big ol' box on the front step - all my Pampered Chef® goodies had arrived from Heather's show! He brought it in, and I pounced into the box, showing him all my new lovelies. He appropriately nodded, oooh'd and ahhh'd over egg separators, decorating bottles, cake towers, and microfiber towels with me. Seriously, it was Christmas in my kitchen! (I'd been waiting forever to order these certain items, just waiting on someone to have a show.)

Tomorrow we'll run as many errands as possible to make up for today, and then Jack has another birthday party to attend at the base pool (he was just there last Saturday for another classmate's party). Sunday night and Monday night both have plans, so I don't think we'll slow down any time soon!

Goodbye to an old friend.

Remember this event in our lives? Remember how little and wee my little guys were?

*hands tissues to long-time readers*

This past November, in anticipation of our move, we finally passed our swingset on to a younger home. A wonderful new family with three little girls had been wishing for just such a playset, and the mom was beside herself with joy when I called out-of-the-blue to offer her a gigantic play structure. (I honestly had no idea she'd been hoping to buy one, but had thus far been unable to scrape together the funds for it. I just had run through a list of people in my head, and when I got to her name, I thought, "Perfect! I'll ask her!")

Before Philip (with the help of our next-door neighbor Dave, as well as his truck - thank you!) began taking apart the towers of the swingset, the boys went out to play on it one last time. They squinted for me in the very early morning light, and they laughed as they scrunched their too-big bodies on a swing together.



I cried behind the camera. :-(

( More pictures. )

The boys went with the big guys to my friend's home and set it all up again their backyard. The boys showed her little girls the ins-and-outs of their great swingset, and then they said goodbye. Within just a few hours, my friend sent me pictures: shining little faces among newly-strung curtains and ribbons, a fairytale swingset!

It went to a great home. :-)

Some old favorites.

Chicken Gumbo is probably Jack's most-requested meal. He loves the stuff, and he loves it even more leftover (which is great, 'cause it makes a lot in the CrockPot)! It's a very simple recipe, and not really a "gumbo" at all, per se - not by traditional standards, at least. However, it's what my mom called it when I was growing up, and it's gumbo to me. *wink*



(And eeek! When I look back at the lighting on dishes in our old house, I'm appalled compared to what I have now.)

Chicken Fajitas are another favorite I grew up with. We can only find the special marinade in Texas, and even then, it's getting harder and harder to come by in stores. Any time my family visits, they buy a case and split it between all of us.


Whole wheat tortilla, brown rice, meat mixture, Ranch Style Beans, cheese, and salsa.

( Some prep pictures. )