Father's Day 2011

Well Father's Day weekend came along and Jeff got his wish...fried deer steak with brown gravy and rice.
Nick and I slaved in the kitchen, you know he likes to cook, to make a wonderful meal on Saturday
night. I also was going to make chocolate pudding stuffed chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache
and homemade vanilla icecream which I had a few problems with. I made the pudding twice
since the first time I use corn syrup instead of corn startch. The ganache had to be made twice
too because I overcooked it the first time and it broke. The pudding ended up not in the cupcakes
because it was too hot and didn't cool fast enough. The icecream had to wait another day because
the container did not freeze enought and the liquid wasn't cool either. Oh well that's okay we had
fun and I received alot of hazing for it.
  I think the best part of the whole day was though holding my sweet nephew, Dillon, he is just
so adorable and I love that baby smell. The laughs so much and I love to have him fall asleep in my
arms. I even got to put him in a pink pull up because we had a diaper shortage crisis. Let's just say
he loves pears but green beans are another story.
  On Sunday morning Lauren and I were both sick along with Grand and Nick. I really think it was a bug
and Jeff was so great. He didn't complain once while he washed Lauren's sheets and let me sleep all
day. He took Lauren out a few times to the store and played outside in the 100F weather. He
really is an awesome Daddy! Thanks so much honey I love you!

Best of Friends

These two three year olds think they are being super silly as I walk around the house looking for them so they can start cleaning up all the toys they have taken out.  Where do I find them in the corner of the kitchen sitting on the floor looking at me giggling.  What I would do to be three again!  Not a care in the world!  Love it!

Valentines!

We got home early one day and had supper and we still had time to play!  That doesn't happen very much so what could we do?  The weather outside was cold and Valentine's Day was coming up.  So we decided to invite Elliott over to make Valentines!  Lauren and I tried to remember all the names of her friends at school.  We got all the boys...Samuel, David, Kyle, and Nathan.  Then it was on to the girls, but we kept forgetting some one.  Then we remembered it was Lily.  How could we forget little blue eye blond hair Lily.  So we were done with friends and on to family!  We got out doilies, puff balls, jewels, markers, and glue.  They had a blast!  Lauren of course wanted all of the pink puff balls and then Elliott wanted them so we compromised and shared.  So much fun we will definitely have to do this next year!

Chicken Nuggets

Lauren's favorite lunch meal is chicken nuggets with frozen peas, a cheese stick, and a banana.  So being a good Mom I buy the Tyson all breast meat chicken nuggets thinking that she is getting a good nutritious lunch.  Then one Saturday we had that meal together.  One bite of a chicken nugget and I felt like I was eating a warm sponge with juice and no flavor.  Yuck!  How could I be feeding to my child!  So I go look at what is in these things and I cannot pronounce half of the words.  So I think what I am going to do?  Then I look for a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets and get out the food processor.

First I chopped five chicken breasts in the good old food processor.  Easier than I thought it would be.  Then I chopped an onion and then the corn flakes as well.

To the chicken I add the onion, two eggs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsely.  Then I get my hands dirty and mix it all together.

Then I scoop out the nuggets...cookie scoop has more than one use.

Then I roll them in cornflakes and make a nugget.  Twenty minutes later in the oven and we have chicken nuggets.  They are really good and actually taste like chicken.  Also there is texture and no spongy juice glob.  Jeff likes them.  I like them.  Lauren likes them except for the parsley so next time I will need to chop it a little more finely.  All in all great chicken nuggets without all the words I cannot pronounce.  And you know what it cost less than the premade ones.  That is one Sunday afternoon I will have to repeat and maybe have Lou join in on the fun!

Snow Day!

Well is was officially declared a snow day today in College Station! At 6:45am as I am planning on sleeping in Jeff and Lauren are telling me wake up wake up there's snow! So we all bundle up and head outside. The neighbors had already may snow angels and it was still coming down! Lauren didn't know what to think at first but then she realized it was like snowcones outside! So we ate lots of snow until we got cold and then she was ready to go in, not until I threw a few snowballs at Jeff though. It was fun and just glad we got the day off today! Jeff made us breakfast for lunch and then I had a long bath with a book followed by sitting in front of a warm fire. Lauren napped and Jeff played video games. What a great lazy day!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt!

So I dared to get out this morning at 5am when it was 25F with a wind chill of 9F to go to the gym for a great workout.  When I was leaving the gym and driving down Longmire I noticed that the roads were extraordinarily dark.  I thought were the street lights burned out but then I realized that we had no electricity.  So I continued home thinking this is what it must be like to live in the country and how creepy it could be.  Jeff met me at the door and said we had no electricity.  So I start lighting candles around the house, gathering flashlights, and thinking I am definitely getting to work late this morning.  About that time our little Lauren walks out of her room with a grin on her face.  She tells me to turn on the lights and I try to explain to her that we have no power.  She runs to turn on the bathroom light to prove how wrong I am, but soon realizes that it is broken in her words.  What does that mean?  It means it is time to get out her ladybug flashlight that Grand got her for Christmas.  So now it is a game to go investigate the rest of the house and go on a bear hunt in the dark with her flashlight.  We didn't find any bears but we did fine a two doggies who wanted to be left alone in their warm blankets, and a waffle in the freezer that needed peanut butter.  A fun morning then came to an end when we discovered that we would be having rolling brown outs all day and the lights eventually came back on.  So we hurriedly got ready and jumped in the car to head to school.  As we were backing out of the driveway the electricity when out again and we couldn't shut the garage door.  So back into the garage and back into the house.  Then five minutes later we were on our way to school again!

Diana and Maricella

These are the two other ladies in Lauren's life that she loves so so very much.  Ms. Diana makes her hair so pretty everyday.  Mrs. Maricella gets to great Lauren every morning when we walk in the door.  I couldn't ask for two better people to watch her and teach her new things every day!

Pigs in a Blanket

So it was Christmas Eve and Mimi and Paw Paw Rex where already in town so it was time to have fun!  I was trying to think of some things for Lauren and I to do so Pigs in a Blanket sounded great for breakfast that morning.  We are all sitting in the living room being lazy when I asked Lauren if she was ready to go make Pigs in a Blanket.  Next thing I know she is running to her room.  Okay are you still sleepy?  When she comes back she has brought Piglet and Wilbur with two of her blankets ready to play Pigs in a Blanket.  Too cute!  So we wrapped them up, rocked them, and played.  We all could not stop laughing and Lauren kept giving us the what are you laughing at look.  Then we went on to the real excitement of cooking Pigs in a Blanket for breakfast, yummy!

Who are you?

Well on November 30, 2010 Dillion Nicholas Palmos arrived in the world.  He is so precious I could just eat him up.  We went to visit that weekend and it felt so good to hold a tiny baby again.  Lauren didn't know what to think.  She was actually more interested in playing tug a war with Mizzy the Boxer.  We didn't get to see the Palmos family again until it was Christmas.  Lauren was still a bit hestiant and as you can tell from the picture Dillon didn't know what to think of Lauren.  Fun was had by all and lots of presents were opened.  The greatest present this Christmas was the new addition of Dillon.

Mommy what's that smell?

So this morning before heading to daycare Lauren I stop by the McDonald's on Rock Praire to get me a Diet Coke, yum!  I rolled down the window to order and just left it open while we pulled around.  Lately Lauren has been interested in smells and she asks me what that smell was.  So I take a deep breath and instantly my eyes well up with tears.  It's not the smell of french fries or a Big Mac but the smell of when you walk into a hospital room.  Instantly I turned to left and saw The Med and remember how Grandma spent her last days there.  I will never forget walking to Grandma's room the last time I saw her and sat with her.  I read her the newspaper and told her how Lauren and Jeff was doing.  I held her hand and said the Our Father with her and hugged and kissed her forehead several times.  I thanked her for all that she had ever done for me and how she loved all of us unconditionally.  How I could just stop by her house when I was having a bad day to have a Dr. Pepper, talk and file our nails.  I loved how she read the newspaper everyday, ate a salad, and did her crossword puzzles.  Her wall of photos to remember everyone and tell memories of them.  How she smoked Kent ultra light 100s and loved her Diet Coke and beer.  She loved to feed the birds and squirrels everyday and loved to watch them as much as Sara and Lucky did.  How she could grow any plant.  Her secret was to water them with ice cubes so they could soak up the water instead of the water going through.  I love her so much and miss her so very much.  I will always have my memories and will never forget her.  I love you Grandma!