Birthday Boy...

Yesterday was Dean's birthday. My sweet husband turned 43. We didn't do much, had a quiet birthday celebration at home.
(We did go to the strawberry festival for him but more on that Wednesday.)

After church, Dean made Philly cheese steaks while the kids rough housed.

I have NO idea why Matt drug Kaela up the stairs.....


but she came back down, happy and ready to eat....


The sandwiches were awesome as usual. Don't feel bad for Dean for cooking on his birthday, this is his favorite meal to make.

Besides, I cleaned up!


after eating one of these (or two if your named Matthew)...you won't eat again that day!


Since he is trying to be good he insisted NO cake....and picked a yogurt and homemade granola parfait with berries.



But I don't like yogurt and besides, you can't have a birthday without a cake so I made his favorite...a plain old yellow cake with chocolate icing....topped with chocolate dipped strawberries...yum!


Happy Birthday Sweetie! We love you!

Make It Monthly

I was off last week for Easter break and our family plans fell through.

No biggie, I thought the kids could go to the local pool and get some sun.....but then the big storm from Texas hit and it rained almost the entire week.

So... instead, the kids hung out with friends and I worked on this month's Christmas gift.

I crocheted lots and lots of play food....and by Thursday you couldn't have PAID me to pick up a crochet hook!

Look at all the colors in this bowl....it looks like a play food harvest:

Here it is, packaged and ready for gift giving. What is it about a little bag and top that makes it look so much cuter?


If anyone is interested, I got the cookie pattern free at the crochet bakery.
I bought the cupcake pattern from Ana Paula and have the strawberry pattern here. The rest I just sort of made up as I went along but didn't take the time to write anything down.

A day in the city, part 2

Sunday we went into New Orleans after church to go to the zoo.
One thing we love to do is to drive around after and see what is new in the city. There is ALWAYS something going on...and Sunday was no exception.

Look at all these neat poodles we found.
Each was done with a different theme. There were a few we couldn't back track to because the traffic was awful.
I hope to get photos of those in the next couple of weeks though...









And check out these WICKED jellyfish lights...oh my GOSH how I wish I had one of these in my home!





We see these two trucks down by the zoo every time we go....so fun.
You can't tell but they are chopped and REALLY small...like clown cars. Every time we see them we laugh. Especially when we see the guys driving them...they look like giants in them!




We also pass this terrace every time we go to the zoo, I just love the look of it. Ferns simply thrive in New Orleans. In fact, everything thrives and there is a lush look all over the city.

Matt noticed this gutter....and made a wisecrack about the good drainage NOLA is known for...you can't see it but the entire thing is clogged with mud.
Probably left over from Katrina.

And everywhere you look (up) you can still see beads in the trees. I know it is trashy but they always make me smile. They are an integral part of the city and I just think they are pretty.


On our way out, we saw this lady....there were tons of folks jazzed up for Easter....she just happened to be close to us as we drove by.

Even though we live close by, and even though Dean works in the CBD every day, there is always something to see when we go in....the sights never fail you!

A day in the city..part 1

Ever since the children were young, we have had a quiet family Easter with a special dinner. It was by default really, because we've always lived so far from family.
But this year, we had made some plans that fell through. At the last minute I realized I hadn't given any thought to Easter dinner.

So after church, we went into New Orleans to play...we didn't really know WHAT we were going to do but once we got into town, we ate at Superior Grill and then went to the zoo.

The first thing I did was drop this little fairy house I had made last year for this month's toy drop.




The zoo hadn't been spruced up for tourists yet but since the weather was nice, almost all of the animals were out. It really was a perfect day for going to the zoo....not too hot with a nice breeze.

The birds were BUSY...lots of courting and nesting going on....

look at this wood duck...he was showing off for a very pretty lady duck who was playing coy



two pairs of loons showed us a little X rated show but I didn't take photos of that!




these horn bills were busy courting too, the male was feeding the female and was not pleased when we interrupted him...


this pelican was chasing a baby turtle....but didn't catch it. These pelicans are HUGE!


and these flamingos were super bright today...and showing off for one another.


these beautiful guys had nests everywhere in the aviary. I don't know how they don't fall out with the nest opening on the bottom....


a sign said 2 scarlet ibis babies hatched...unfortunately we couldn't find them but we did find dad...or mom?

This Louisiana Barred Owl was hit by a car at night while hunting. He was lucky though and fully recovered. He is now helping to educate people.

this guy was so LITTLE last year...amazing what a year can do...another few years and he will be as big as the adults.



nothing exciting going on here...I just love turtles and tortoises

These hunting dogs are housed right next to the Thompson's gazelle...doesn't seem fair. They can actually see them through the chain link fence. They have a little path they've worn out right next to the fence.



The kids stopped long enough for me to take a few photos of them....



I even got one of Dean.....


We were leaving the gift shop empty handed when I spied this little change purse. How could I resist?!


Then we drove around a bit taking in the sights...but that is for Wednesday's post.
For us to have just thrown together an Easter outing, it was a great day.
We may not have had a special dinner but just being together was good enough for us.

Peep "topeeparies" tutorial

Remember this post from last year's iron craft challenge?

Well, my topeeparies turned out so cute I decided to make some more this year to go with my Easter decorations. (It was raining outside when I took the photo so you can't see just how green they are.)



Here is a quick tutorial on what I did.

You'll need:
peeps
vase or tall glass
spray paint in dark green (or black)
wooden skewers
teeny pots
floral foam
Modge Podge
white and gold craft paints
gold glitter
foam brush
dried green herb
Take a wooden skewer and run it through the bottom of your peeps and then spray paint the peeps green...very lightly...you don't want them to get gooey. Let the over spray go about 2 inches down on the skewer too. When done, set them into a vase to dry, it should take just a few minutes.

Take Modge Podge and lightly coat the entire peep with it. Make sure to cover the bottom and between the ears.




Sprinkle liberally with your dried green herb. I used Basil, since I grow it I never seem to use the dried stuff and it gets old.


Then set them into the vase to dry again while you paint the little pots.


Take your little pots and sponge on a bit of white paint followed by gold paint.

While the paint is still wet, sprinkle with gold glitter.


Insert a bit of floral form into the little pots and then top with some of the moss.
Cut your skewer to about 3 inches and then stick it into the pot.

Cuteness :-)

soups on....

Years ago I got hooked on a pre made soup mix (that shall remain nameless.) It was everyone's favorite but when we moved here, I couldn't find it. I finally found someone who could get it for me but then she moved so I bought a bunch on ebay. Ultimately I decided that was simply ridiculous so I came up with my own version...which everyone loves just as much, if not more.

Val's Chicken Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:

veggie or canola oil
1 small onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can Roteil
1 can cream corn
2 cans fiesta corn or 2 cups frozen corn
1 can great northern beans
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 large jar cheese whiz* (or 1 block of cream cheese)

In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in oil until soft then add chicken stock and seasonings.
To this add all canned ingredients. Stir well and bring to gentle boil for 10 minutes.

Reduce heat and add the chicken, heat through.
Then add the cheese whiz. Do not boil once you add the cheese whiz.
Once everything is throughly heated, taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

*Adjust seasonings AFTER you add the cheese because cheese is naturally salty.

Everyone in our family tops their own bowl with something different. Dean likes to crumble corn bread in his, I like avocados and the kids like Fritos.....its all good!