Dinner tonight...Steak and Rice

Tonight's dinner is an oldie but goodie in our family. I doubt the girls will eat it, but we'll see.

Lolly's Steak and Rice

Medium onion, sliced thin
1 stick butter
2 lbs. cube steak
Lowry's season salt
Flour to coat
12 oz can of Evaporated Milk
Regular milk if necessary

• Freeze cube steak to make it easier to cut.
• Melt butter in large skillet. Cook onions until tender.
• While onions are cooking, slice into 1 inch pieces. In bowl, season steak with season salt. Sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons of flour (enough to coat steak).
• Once onions are tender, add steak. Cook until golden brown and is no longer pink.
• Pour can of evaporated milk to make a gravy.
• If it's too thick, you can pour in some regular milk too.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve over white rice.

Enjoy!

Supper Club

About 3 weeks ago, Missy emailed me with an idea. Knowing that we are both busy and both eat out way too much, she suggested that every other Sunday, we each cook 3 casseroles. Instead of baking them in the 9 x 13 like we normally would, we are separating them. I keep 3 9 x 9s and give her the other 3. We only have to double a few of the recipes and we have 6 meals for a 2 week period. So far, it has been great! We have had homecooked meals 6 times, plus enough for lunch the next day. My grocery bill has been less than $120 for 2 weeks!

It works perfectly since we generally eat out on Fridays and Saturdays and have Bible study or family dinners on Sundays. That leaves me with only 1 meal to cook during the week.

When I was growing up, my mom had a supper club with our neighbors too, including Missy's mother-in-law, Tina. It's funny to me that we've come full-circle and are doing the things our parents did with us.

Over the last 2 weeks, we had these dinners:

Chicken and Rice
Chicken Spaghetti
Busy Day Casserole
Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake
Spaghetti

I've learned that my chicken enchiladas are not meant to be layered and that frozen dinners take a lot longer to cook than expected!

Sunday, I made King Ranch Chicken, Steak and Rice and Jambalaya. We ate Missy's version of Kara's BBQ Meatballs last night. They are probably my favorite!

I plan to share some of my recipes soon and will let you know the successes and failures.

Do you have any dinners that are easy and freeze well? You can leave your favorite recipes in the comments.

Our Final Day at Disneyland - Part 1

We started out our final day at California Adventure. It's a smaller park with some more recent characters. We quickly found Flick's Faire which had more age appropriate rides for the girls.

We rode the Ladybugs (can't remember the official name) and it was a lot like the Mad Tea Party, but jerked you around more when it changed directions. The girls loved it, but I could have passed on that one.

The Chew-Chew train was great! You heard a story as you traveld through a half-eaten watermelon, giant animal crackers and candy.

We had heard from everyone that Toy Story Midway Mania was a must, so we braved a 30ish minute wait to check it out. It was really cool, but probably more so for the grown ups. You were in these cars with a video game like controller. It would pull up to different targets to shoot out and score points. The girls couldn't master the controllers, but I thought it was really fun.

After that, we went on a different carousel ride and then headed to the hotel for naps. Lolly and I had grand plans of staying for the 9 o'clock fireworks and then the 10:30 Fantasmic show that night, so we knew we needed our rest.

I'll try to update later with the pictures from the Electrical Parade - it was so cool! I don't really know how else to describe it.

Breakfast with Minnie

Here's Day 2 of Disney... It was a LONG day! We rushed to breakfast afraid we'd lose our reservation (Thank goodness we didn't!) and waited for close to 2 hours to see the Disney Princesses! We did take an afternoon break for naps and came back for dinner and the fireworks.

Landrie was VERY into having her picture taken! She posed for me in her Princess gown just after she woke up.

Winnie the Pooh!

Chip

Disney Princess Fantasy Faire

The girls with "Leasin' Booty"

All of us with "Cin-lella"

Princess Minnie

In Minnie's House

Karsyn in the Teacups - Her favorite!

Talent UPDATED

I've been redeemed - at least halfway. Here's Landrie with the mascot on the first day!!

The girls did great today at school! There were only a few tears from Karsyn when I dropped her off. I think she was more upset to leave "Land-ur" than anything else. Bad mommy forgot to take first day pictures though. Luckily some friends got a few pics of Landrie. Poor Karsyn was already in her room when we took the pictures.

Lolly picked them up from school and brought them to me at my school. The girls love coming up there and they are always a BIG hit when they stop by. It's definitely getting easier to have them with me at school. I turned on the TV and had a few more minutes to get things done.

Tonight, when we were leaving the gym, Karsyn kicked her shoes off (as usual). Landrie picked them up and I thanked her for being such a big helper. She just smiled and smiled. After I buckled Karsyn in, Landrie said "that's my talent." Being a helper is definitely one of Landrie's many talents!

I can't wait to see the girls learn new things and grow throughout this school year! I know it will go so fast and be so fun!

Happy Labor Day!

It's hard to believe that the first week of school is already passed. For Lamar and I both, the week went really well. We like our classes and our schedules. The Buffalos had their first game too and unfortunately - not good. They lost 20-12. I feel like it's more promising than last year, but only time will tell.

The girls start school tomorrow! They are both really excited and I know Lolly is excited too! Landrie will be going 4 days (M, Tu, Th, F) and Karsyn just 2 days (Tu, Th). I think it will be great for both of them. Landrie will get to be with her friends almost every day and Karsyn will get some one-on-one time with Lolly. She does so well when she's on her own.

Today we're trying to squeeze in the last bit of summer by swimming and cooking out. Hope you have a great day too!!

PS: I still have MORE Disney pictures, but that seems like so long ago. I'll try to post them later this week.

Disneyland Part 1 (Californa Day 2)

I started this post 4 days ago...Oops! Hopefully I can finish it tonight without deciding to go to bed first.

Our morning started off very early. Miss Karsyn was the last to go to sleep and the first up at 6 AM! Ugh! We ate breakfast in the hotel and then headed to Disneyland. The girls were so excited they could barely contain themselves. Truth be told - Lolly and I quickly were just as excited as they were.

The Entrance @ Disneyland

Our first ride was the Astro Orbiter. It was fun, but just an average, make you dizzy kind of ride. After that, we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride. The girls are fans of Toy Story so I thought it would be fun. I was not anticipating the darkness and the aliens like I should have. Landrie was very intimidated.








We headed to some tamer rides--the Carousel, Dumbo's Flying Elephants and saw the Disneyland Band. All of those were big hits.

Pops & the girls on the carousel

Mickey conducting the band

We left Disneyland and headed for California Adventure. There were 3 shows I wanted to see - Playhouse Disney for Karsyn, Aladdin for all of us and the High School Musical show for Landrie. I think Pops and Lolly would agree - the Aladdin show was great. It was a true production and the Gennie was hilarious!

Landrie really wanted her picture taken in the O of California. We finished taking the picture on the L of everyone and Pops, Lolly and Karsyn went to get in line to get in California Adventure. I couldn't find Landrie anywhere... I turned around and she was posing in the O.

The High School Musical 2 Show

We then headed back to Disneyland for the parade. It was so fun! We saw all of our favorite characters and had a "front row" seat for the action. It was great until Ursula (the sea witch from the Little Mermaid) came by. Landrie crawled under the bench we were sitting on! For some reason, she was very scary to her.

Landrie & Karsyn waiting for the parade to start.

After the parade, we finally made it to the Teacups. Landrie had requested for this to be our first ride of the day and it took us until nearly 5 o'clock to get there. The girls loved it!! I have never heard Karsyn laugh so hard. She is my adrenaline junky!


We also rode the Storybook Land boats and Alice and Wonderland.

The final ride of the evening was the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We had a pass to get to the front of the line so we thought we'd try it. People on the ride were screaming their heads off, but we still went. It was very fast and bumpy! I'm surprised that they even allowed Karsyn to ride. She rode and loved it! When we finished, she said "Do again, Mommy!"


When we got back to the hotel, I looked in my Disneyland guide. The Bobsleds got high ratings for older kids and adults, but was coded as not suitable for ages 2-4. Oops! They had fun anyway!


With Day 1 under our belts, we were worn out, but in awe of the magical place that Disneyland is.

Next - Breakfast with Minnie & Friends

Happy Birthday Pops!

Today is Pops 51st birthday!

Hope you had a great day!

Thanks for a fantastic trip! We love you!!!

Disney

Wow! Our trip to Disneyland was a blast! It wasn't what I expected it to be at all - it was better than I could have imagined!

Here's the rundown of the trip:


Day 1 - flight to The OC (Orange County).

By design, Lolly put her and Landrie on one row and Karsyn and I on another. We weren't sure what Miss Fiesty would do on the plane. Surprisingly, she was very pleasant! There were a few tears at the beginning and the end, but a good nap in the middle.

We're here! The girls were thrilled to be off the plane and near Disneyland.

After we landed, we checked into our hotel and then drove to Hollywood. It was about 45 minutes away in traffic. Landrie and Karsyn kept it interesting by fighting around me, pulling my hair and being super silly. We were in a Jeep Liberty and I was in the middle seat. (Feel sorry for me yet?)

Landrie asked no fewer than 50 times when we were going to the beach. We promised we would go, but first we toured Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Hills, Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills. It was fun to see just to say I had been, but it honestly wasn't anything special.

We finally drove to Santa Monica to the beach. Landrie and Karsyn were thrilled! They wouldn't put their feet in the water though - silly girls! They were content to play in the sand. I had to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean and the tide was coming in...Oops! I got more wet than I intended, but it felt so good.

After that, we got lost getting back to Anaheim. The girls were melting down, so Pops and Lolly took us to a fancy dinner - McDonalds! They went out to dinner and the girls and I were in bed by 9:30 that night! I definitely needed the rest for what was to come...

Day 2 coming soon!

Confessions

Anyone who knows my family, knows we are not big on animals...especially those of the amphibian variety. Somehow though, I am raising a tree-hugging, animal loving little girl.

For the better part of a year, Landrie asked every single day for a puppy. We told her she could have one when she was 6, but now my answer is she can have one when she's grown up and lives on her own. That's probably really mean on my part, but I just don't think I can handle taking care of one more thing especially something that's not as cute and loveable as my 2 little girls.

She's also concerned with other critters and their habitats too. For example, we have one lot that is empty across the street from us. We woke up one morning to a tree service clearing the lot. Landrie was very worried about where the birds were going to live since their tree was gone.

A few days later, she dropped a toy behind some chairs in the garage. When Lamar picked it up, it had spider webs on it and he wiped them up. She was more concerned that the spiders wouldn't have a home than the fact that her toy was dirty!

We have had an ant problem and once I found the giant ant pile on the side of the house, we sprayed them. She was upset that we were killing the ants. Ugh!

At least she is considerate of others feelings...even if they have more legs than we do!

That's why I cannot tell her about the events at Jordan's apartment tonight. Jor called me literally hysterical around 7 o'clock. I couldn't even understand what was going on. She finally calmed down enough to tell me that something crawled out from underneath a shirt on the floor. Justin is out of town, so she was freaking out!

She called the wrong person because I surely wasn't going to pick up any kind of creature, but I went for moral support anyway. About 5 minutes after I got there, she mustered up the courage to check the closet. What she found was a 1 1/2 inch long baby gecko!

SIDE STORY - I am literally terrified of these tiny things. Once when Lamar was gone to a Ranger game, I saw one in our front hallway. I sat in a chair for 2 hours watching the darn thing so I could show Lamar where it was when he got home. The little critter got back at me though and ran into our bedroom! I never saw the sucker again - YUCK!

So, to say Jordan called the wrong person is a gross understatement! The only ammunition we had was carpet cleaner, a small bowl and a vaccuum. From the comfort of her bed, I coached her as she sprayed the gecko with the carpet cleaner. Every time it would move, she would scream and run out of the closet. This went on for about 30 minutes, but Jordan finally killed the gecko with foaming carpet cleaner and then vaccummed him up.

I couldn't wait to get out of there! I still have the creepy crawlies just writing this story!

I have a feeling Landrie will have to rescue me in the future if we have any bugs or critters! Hopefully they won't become her pets.

Little Miss "No White"

Tonight is our last night before work starts again! I can't believe that our summer is officially over. Lamar starts football meetings, I start back to work and the girls will begin Lolly Days again. Luckily, we only have to do it for a 4 day stretch before Disneyland!

The girls and I are going with Pops & Lolly to California on Saturday. I can't wait!!! This is the first airplane ride for the girls and the first Disney trip for all of us! I might be more excited than they are.

Landrie's planned where we'll go since we first started talking about Disneyland - The Teacups! I hope that she's as excited about the rides once we get there as she is now. Her only request is to not go near the Pirates, though I'm not sure why. She doesn't know yet, but we're also going to see the High School Musical show!

Karsyn is into the Princesses BIG TIME! I can't wait to see her reactions to them! The things she calls them is the best part:

• Be-yell (starting on the Texas accent early)


• Ar-we-al


• No White


• Cin-lella


• And the best of all - Leasin' Booty! She just cannot say Sleeping Beauty!!

I promise to post lots of pictures when we get back and I may get a few in before we leave too!

Purpose

After having 5 days sans husband and children, I've spent a lot of time laughing, revisiting old memories and thinking.

Coming home to a clean quiet house was great on Sunday, but as Monday rolled around, I began to feel like I didn't know what to do with myself. Luckily, I had dinner planned with Brea so that occupied my night. We went through boxes of college pictures...cracking up all the way through. For some reason, we thought we had to take a picture (or 6) with food stuffed in our mouths...why, I'm just not sure. Last night, we were just 2 silly college girls again reliving toga parties, white trash prom, lake days and more.

Today, I went to the pool by myself. I took a book and my iPod and just floated for hours. It was a nice, but strange feeling - like I didn't have a purpose. I almost felt hallow without my two sweet girls hanging on to me, asking questions and shouting "Look at me, Mommy!"

I honestly didn't know I could miss them so much! It makes me realize that I was meant to be a mom and a wife, and how blessed to have them all healthy and safe at home with me. I hope that I never take for granted how lucky I am to have them. As school and football nears, I want to cherish each and every moment we have together.

A Necessary Thank You (or two)

I just got home a few hours ago from the 2nd Annual Huffman Scrapbook Retreat. Sweet Kara invited 13 people into her home for the weekend for a 48 hour scrap-a-thon. Not only was she kind enough to have us take over her house for the weekend, she flew her parents in to serve us and pamper us too! Her dad served as our valet parker and unloaded all of our scrapbook stuff (A TON of stuff) and her mom was the chef for the weekend. We all felt so lucky to be taken care of for the weekend rather than doing the caring ourselves. It was a huge success! I finished 55 pages and am 10 pages from being current on my scrapbook. I can't belive it.

My second shout-out goes to Lamar. When I came home from the retreat, I walked in to a quiet and clean house. The kitchen was clean, the laundry was done and he and the girls were out of town. I feel extra special because I had the retreat, plus 2 days to recover from the retreat without cleaning up cheerios, turning on moomee's for Karsyn and Cartoon Neckwork for Landrie. Don't get me wrong, I am missing them like crazy, but I am thrilled for some alone time...especially as football season and school starts up.

So, Thank You Kara & Lamar! You made my weekend!!!