Road Trip!

*Ahem* Shameless Plug. Check it out.

Okay, now to this post. In June, Joe and I are heading out on our longest road trip to date. Yes, the kids are coming! Want to know our route? Wait, I might tell you the destination first. A little background information. My mom's entire side of the family is from Springfield, Illinois...and if you know where that is...then, you might just know where Pleasant Plains is...that's where they're really from. Anyhow, I love it up there, but Joe has never been. We are going to do a little sight-seeing on our way up there and take a slight detour thru Mississippi for a friend's wedding. Joe is in the wedding, so that will be fun. Don't ask me how we are going to keep Trey & Emery entertained for so long...I'm open to suggestions. We do have a DVD player, that'll be good for the first couple of hours. lol. Okay moving on. Here's our route. If you know of anywhere we need to visit on this route, feel free to chime in!

Route:
Houston to Henderson, TX (visit friends for a day...maybe I should tell them that! lol.)
Henderson to Diamondhead, Mississippi (wedding - looking for affordable/nice place to stay)
Diamondhead to Clarkesville/Nashville, TN (visit friends - whoops, need to tell them too!)
Tennessee to Illinois

I imagine our way home will be a little more direct, but any suggestions will be taken into account!

*Ahem* Shameless plug. Seriously, check it out.

P.S. If you're on my route to Illinois (or in Illinois for that matter), I would love to do some photo shoots while we're on the road!

Hey, did I mention I'm ready for summer?

*Oh Snap*

Let me set this story up for you:
Me - Chasing Trey around the upstairs to get him back in bed
Trey - Trying to evade my grabbing hands
Me - "Trey, GET IN BED"...As I grab his arm
Trey - "OH, SNAP."

Being that I teach at a pretty diverse high school, and mainly juniors and seniors, I LOST IT. Just in case you needed the break down...

OH SNAP
(exclamatory phrase) a playful indication of surprise, misfortune, or insult popularized by Tracy Morgan of Saturday Night Live, 'Oh Snap' is seemingly derivative of "oh no you didn't". While derivative of "oh no you di-int,". 'Oh Snap' has more of an emphasis on playfulness and can be said by people other than those being insulted.

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We needed that laugh today, as we awoke this morning to some 'snap, crackle, & pop'....later to be figured out as our tile downstairs. The Houston area got 10+ inches of rain LAST NIGHT. We didn't have standing water, it just somehow got in under the tile and 'pushed' it up. Let's just say it was a good thing I had a margarita tonight, because I get to deal with the claims people tomorrow! Wish me luck.

Oh, by the way. We didn't have school today. And no, it wasn't because of that blasted swine flu...don't get me started. We didn't have to go in, because there were rains reminiscent of Hurricane Ike during rush hour! We'll keep you posted on the saga with insurance!

We're Still Here...

Whoa, almost a week between posts! Staying pretty busy around here! This photography is keepin' me pretty busy, but no complaints here because I LOVE it!

I think I posted about Trey's ear infection, and maybe about his flying leap off of our five foot bar outside. (No, I didn't witness that...but he tells me he landed on his head!) Emery had pink eye this past week...nothin' a few eye drops didn't clear up!

Last night, Joe and I got to watch this movie with our small group. Great times had by all! I made Missy's Chicken Enchilada Dip and it was a huge success. (recipe below)

I am leaving here in a few minutes to go get one of my dearest friends from the airport. Her dad, who is pretty much one of my 'dad's', is having double bypass surgery on Monday or Tuesday. Would you please keep him/family in your prayers. For the surgeons to have wisdom and steady hands, and for him to come thru with flying colors and have a speedy recovery.

We'll be hangin' out at the hospital this week, so it very well could be another week before I post! PLUS, it's TAKS week at school, and that's enough to do anyone in! Okay, now for the recipe...I know that's why y'all are still reading this! :)

Chicken Enchilada Dip
1 - rotisserie chicken (pull meat off in small pieces)
2 - 8 oz. pkgs of cream cheese (I used fat free)
1 - cup mayo (again, fat free)
1 - cup sour cream (light)
4 - cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 - 4.5 oz. cans green chiles
1 - small can of jalapenos, diced

Mix all ingredients together
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min.
Serve with tortilla chips, fritos, or could be spread in a tortilla...

Enjoy, and have a great week!

P.S. Along with praying for our dear friend, please keep Kayleigh and Family in your prayers. My heart just hurts for them, I can't even begin to imagine. I can tell you that it has caused me to hug Trey and Emery a little tighter each day!

The Sun Came Out!

The sun came out today {after 2 days of down pours}! Yay! After church, we drove out to The Woodlands to scout out all of the spots for the upcoming Spring Portrait Special. This park is so pretty, we had a good time on our little walk. Daddy hopped in on the picture taking and took the pics of the kids. He did a pretty stinkin' good job if you ask me!

Crazy Trey Cheeeeese.

Sibling Love. Only because she's not playing with his toys...
My 3 Favorite People!

Well, off to bed. Only 6 more weeks of school, can I get a hallelujah? Let the countdown begin!

* Peas & Carrots *

I'm glad someone in this house likes them...or at least she likes to make a mess of them! I know I've said this before...however, I need to repeat myself. "Where'd my baby go?" Just today, Joe witnessed her standing on her OWN. Don't tell me that. She didn't last long, but none-the-less that means she is one step closer to walking. Sign me up for the therapist. Oh wait, this is my therapy.

I don't have a picture of Trey this week, but I'm sure that will be fixed shortly. I have formatted all 3 of my cards, so my camera is geared up for this weekend. Well, it was actually geared up for a much more significant event, however that has been cancelled because of the mini-monsoon we had here today. Bummer. Re-scheduled for next weekend. We did regain our composure after Monday and Tuesday about wiped us out. Wednesday night made it all better...retail & 'rita therapy! Trey's ear infection (outer, to be exact) & sore neck (from his flying leap off of the 5' bar on our deck) are all a distant memory. Don't you hear the chorus singing 'Hallelujah'? Or is that just in my mind? :) No, they were really singing when Trey waltzed into the living room at 7:45 tonight and announced he was ready for bed...he marched into his room, got in bed and he was out! Be jealous, be very jealous. :)

On another positive note, my house is clean AGAIN! I have a serious infatuation with my clean house. You'd think that would keep me motivated to stay on top of things....hey, I'm tryin! This morning it didn't take me two hours to pick up all of the stuff, so that the maids could actually clean. Stop laughing...it's true. Alright, so that's enough funny business for one evening. I'm off to do a little photo-editing...who am I kidding, I'm about to fall asleep, but maybe I can knock out one picture out of the 400 I have to do...G'night.

P.S. Only 6 more weeks of school!

* Whew *

I am ready for Friday!

I mentioned in the last post that Trey's ear was bothering him and we were headed to our doctor to have it checked out. Sure enough....outer ear infection (aka...swimmer's ear)! Antibiotics and drops and we're on our way home. Fast forward to this afternoon. We went to H-E-B for some groceries and I got Emery out of the car and groceries on the counter...where's Trey? Oh yeah, he's already out back with the dogs, an every day occurrence. HOWEVER, I usually have time to get the blinds open and keep an eye on him. He was too fast for me today. All I heard was crying, and he comes thru the back door lookin' pretty banged up. His hands had mud and grass stains, and his shirt was covered in grass. I finally got it out of him, that he had been ON the bar of our back deck (about 5 feet off the ground)...and he 'fell' off. We may need to replace that 'fell' with 'jumped'! Remind me to move the coolers off the deck, because that is what he uses as his step stool. Anyhow, he is complaining about his neck. Fantastic. Trying not to be scared out of my mind...I called our doctor's office (it is 5:15), no answer. Next option, try his cell phone. Yep, I have the doctor's cell phone...and that is dangerous! He answered!!! He was still at the office!!! He told me to come on in!!! Did I mention that we have a FABULOUS Dr.? He examined Trey thoroughly, decided against the x-ray and said it is just a soft tissue bruise. He has a little knot/bruise on his neck...so who knows how he landed. However, he can move his head all around, and is chasing Emery in her walker as we speak. I. think. he. is. A-Okay.

It's only Tuesday, so I'm hoping for a more relaxing rest of the week!

Oh, by the way...our Dr. (who we ALL see, including Emery) is Dr. Amit Parikh on Cypress Rosehill and 290, if you're in the area.

*Little Man*

He can be a stinker one second, and then melt our hearts the next. Need an example? Last night about 9 o'clock Trey was complaining of an ear ache. He doesn't usually whine for long, so I knew something was up when he kept whining. Being the softy that I am, I let him snuggle in with Joe and I last night after a dose of Tylenol. Before we went to sleep, I asked Trey if he thought maybe we should pray about his little earache and he said, "yes." We started praying and before I could get to "Amen." Trey looked at me and said, "Jesus is in our hearts." *Melted* That just made his temper tantrums of the day worth it.

Oh yeah, and about the ear ache. We're headed to the Dr. in a little bit. Even though he said it wasn't bothering him this morning...we shall see.

* Obsessed *

There's just something about this song that makes me want to roll down my car windows and shout it out. I have become slightly obsessed with it. You'll notice it is now the lead song on my player, and I don't think it will be knocked out anytime soon. Just as it makes me want to yell out the words, some days it strikes a whole other chord and I just want to cry. It's a very powerful song. This is what Easter's all about.

...And, in case you can't get enough of it...here's a YouTube version, but you might want to turn off the player over there...you know, the red one on the side bar.

P.S. The second song on the player...Trey sings it really well. I'm going to have to get it on video, but it might just be the cutest thing you've EVER seen...

...Chip?...

As if the recipes below weren't good enough at our bible study last night, I almost forgot about these. No lie...I could have eaten the entire bag...in one sitting. We had the salsa fresca. They were sooooo good, and they're made from brown rice. Healthy! Okay, we probably shouldn't eat the chip in the first place, but if you need a snack this is a good place to start. A couple of my friends had mentioned them. A friend at work gets the Sea Salt flavor and eats them with hummus...I've tried it...it's delicious. Anyway, I think you can get them at H-E-B, Kroger, Costco., etc. Go get 'em!

*2 Yummy Recipes*

We went to our small group bible study last night, and the hostess served an awesome dinner! We had Seafood Lasagna and Chocolate Cookie Pudding. The recipes are below. Enjoy!

P.S. You can used reduced fat/low sodium, etc. in both of these and they were still great!

Seafood Lasagna-all recipes.com

3/4 c chopped onion
2 tbsp butter
1 8oz pkg. cream cheese
1 1/2 c. small curd cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp. dried basil
salt
pepper
1 can cream of shrimp soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. milk
crab meat
shrimp
lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 c. shredded cheese

1. In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Reduce heat. Add cream cheese; cook and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in cottage cheese, egg, basil, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a bowl, combine the soups, broth, milk, crab and shrimp.

2. Arrange three noodles in a greased 9x13 pan. Spread with a third of cottage cheese mixture and a third of the seafood mixture. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

3. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese. Bake 10 min longer or until cheese is melted and lasagna is bubble.

*Not sure on the amount of the seafood, probably not more than a pound in the dish?? Use your expertise...

Chocolate Cookie Pudding-Southern Living @ Home

1 package chocolate instant pudding mix
2 c. milk
1 pkg. cream cheese softened
1 container of cool whip
16 double stuffed oreos

1. Whisk together pudding mix and milk for 2 min. Cover and chill 5 min.
2. Stir together cream cheese and whipped topping, blending well.
3. Place 1 c. crushed cookies evenly on bottom of an 8 c. bowl. Spread half of cream cheese mixutre over crushed cookes; Spread all of pudding evenly over top; spread remaining cream cheese mixture over pudding. Sprinkle with remaining cookies. Chill until ready to serve.
Serves 6-8

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On a side note...

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published a new issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is FREE, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

Click the picture to jump right in and start reading!

The life...

This is the life.

Someone other than my mom, cleaned my house for me this weekend. In almost six years of married life, we have never had anyone come clean our house. I will be the first to tell you that I did not get my mother's clean gene. The first step is admitting the problem, right? Even before kids, Joe and I could always find something better to do than clean our house. Don't let your mind go to the gutter...we just stay busy with all of our school stuff and at the time we were both coaching. Anyway, moving on...my friend Tammy had mentioned she had some girls come clean her house. Can we say God-send? In the first 5 minutes, they had taken all of the cushions out of the couch and were cleaning the couches out...oh wait, you're supposed to do that? I don't even want to know what they found. Just kidding, maybe not. So, 3 hours later...my house is cleaner than the day we moved in. It is such a great feeling not to have to spend my Saturday or Sunday afternoons dedicated to laundry and cleaning (better yet, I don't have to take a day off...which I've been known to do). If you're in the Houston area, and need a referral for some awesome women to come clean your house, let me know and I'll put you in touch.

Can I get a 'Hallelujah' for a 4-day week? I'm excited for this week/weekend. Joe and I are both volunteering at ALL of our church's Easter services. Friday - 6 p.m., Saturday - 6 p.m., Sunday - 3 more services! I think I'm just going to pack Trey and Emery a little suit case, and let them sleep there! Just kidding. We LOVE our church, and I'm so excited to see how many new people come thru the doors...and hopefully love it as much as we do!

Last night Joe and I were finishing up dinner, and we're sitting at the kitchen table. Trey had dismissed himself, and Emery was in her walker. They kept us entertained for at least 10 minutes with their new game. Trey runs all the way in to the living room, by the fire place...ready, set, run....he runs into Emery and pushes her walker and she giggles and think it's the funniest thing. Joe said, "You can't buy this." So right. To see Emery and Trey interacting now, is such a blessing. I'm really looking forward to this summer where I'll get to see it all day, every day.

Enough rambling for one Monday morning. By the way, my students probably think I'm sick or something. I went off and forgot my makeup bag...I'm at work...sans makeup. Yikes! :) Happy Monday!

*Clutz*

Yeah, that would be me. Long story short...I'll spare you the embarassing details...My ankle gave out this evening as I was walking out of TJ Maxx. You think that's a sign I shouldn't have gone in the first place? Just saying. Anyway, this happens. A lot. If we rewound about 13 years I could pinpoint this problem to some defensive player trying to rain on my break away lay up and her only hope was to undercut me. Which she did. She did it very well, actually. I spent that Christmas break with my ankle in a bucket of snow in Illinois. Okay, I'll get over it. Eventually. So, now I'm rambling. Anyway, when I got up off the concrete today in front of TJ Maxx and tried to walk gracefully *insert sarcasm* back to the car...I realized this wasn't my usual turn of the ankle. My awesome husband had a bucket of ice and water ready for me when I got home. This might sound strange to some of you...but if you're a former collegiate athlete, it sounds all too familiar. Ice baths. I don't need to go into too much detail, but just imagine: 2-a-day practices and evening ice baths in a large trash can, waist deep just for you. It sounds wretched, however after the first one...you start begging for them. If you're ever extremely sore from a work out, I highly recommend it!

My ankle is still kind of throbbing, but I think I'll survive. If it's pretty and purple tomorrow, I'll take a picture and show you. I CANNOT afford to be on crutches. There are parties and more pictures in my near future. Speaking of pictures. I took these today. Can we say...SO MUCH FUN! I'm off to bed. I swear, I have been getting to school later and later each day. This is bad, because I don't usually start that routine until May. Yikes!