Oh Boy

Oh boy

OH BOYS!

BBQ Pit Boys, that is!  Mike and I have been having fun watching their videos and trying their recipes.

Oh boy - 

Potato Bombs!

Use an apple corer to take out the center of your potato.  Stuff the potato with whatever you want - Cheese, sausage, ham, garlic.  Literally whatever you want.

After you stuff the potatoes, plug the holes with the "core" you removed, then wrap the potatoes in BACON!

Wrap them in heavy foil and throw them on the grill.

Oh boy!  They are gooood!

Watch the video and get the recipe 

Tonight we had their Meat and Potato Pie.  (aka Shepherd's Pie)

Oh boy!

You start out cooking some onion and ground beef (we used ground turkey) in a cast iron skillet on your grill.  

Mix in your veggies.

Add your mashed potatoes to the top.

Sprinkle on some cheese.

It was goooood!  (The color on this picture is weird and the meat doesn't look cooked, but don't worry, it was!)

Here's the recipe for Meat and Potato Pie.

For more on the letter O , be sure to check out Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.

An Auction

Remember when I posted about my friends at A Little Thunder a couple weeks ago?  Well, they're having an auction on their Facebook page.  It started today and runs through Sunday night.  Go check it out!  There is some great stuff up for grabs and the proceeds go to a great cause!

A Little Thunder's Facebook Auction

Disney Flashback Friday - First Disneyland Visit

January 2003.

Joey's first visit to Disneyland.  Unless you count the time he went while still in the womb.  :)  In January of 2003 he was about 8 months old. 

He spent a lot of time in the stroller.  (The double stroller that we crammed 3 kids in!)

And he spent a lot more time doing this...

And just watching the rest of us.

I'm sure he doesn't remember this trip at all, but we all had a great time!

For more Disney fun, check out Focused on the Magic's Flashback Friday.

A Good Day

February 10.  My birthday.  I had a good day. 

Mike and I went to a new (to us) thrift store.  I bought a book - Fitting in as a New Service Wife - I know Mike is now retired from the service, but it was written in 1966 and I thought it might be kind of funny.

We ate lunch at Memories Restaurant.  It sits in an old house.  Our food was quite tasty.

Mike's turkey ?club? on a croissant with baked potato soup.

My Monte Cristo sandwich (Weird, but good smothered in swiss cheese sauce) with sweet potato fries. 

After lunch we walked around "Beautiful Historic Downtown" Alamogordo. 

It didn't take long. 
We stopped in another new (to us) thrift store - We didn't find anything fun there.
We went in True Value Hardware.  I want a new fridge and stove! 
On the way back to the car we stopped and said hi to Wild Bill.  He wears a cowboy hat, has a long white beard, makes & sells furniture out of logs, he carves stuff, he has a cute dog and a cat in the store and he sells coffee.  Nice guy. 

We came home, then Mike turned around to go do a little shopping.  Presents?  Pick up a birthday cake??  While he was gone I surfed the net and found this cute Albino Donkey for sale. 

He won't buy it for me...but said I could buy it myself.  Hmmmm...

We had Pasta Carbonara for dinner.  Made mostly by Mike and it was gooooood!


I opened presents - Clothes, jewelry, a new KitchenAid mixer - Yay!  (I've got to clear a space for it in the kitchen so I can use it!!)
I got to talk to Zac. 
We had cake and ice cream

 and watched Gnomeo and Juliet. 
And...I fell asleep.  Before 8:00pm.  (Good movie though!) 

It was a good day.

M-I-C-K-E-Y...

M-O-U-S-E!

It's Alphabe-Thursday at Jenny's Off on my Tangent.  Today we're learning about the letter "M".  Had you already guessed that?

Since we are Disney lovers in our house, what better way to play the alphabet game on "M" day than to talk about THE mouse himself.

MICKEY.

Our favorite place to see Mickey Mouse is at Disneyland.

Here are Taylor, Haley, Jenny & Zac in front of Mickey at Disneyland.  {2002}

Here are ALL the kids (Joey included) with Mickey at Disneyland in 2003.

Me & my good friend, Pam in front of Mickey at Disneyland.  {May 2005}

Disneyland was celbrating 50 years!

"Mickey" celebrating 50 years in New Orleans Square.

Joey, Jenny, Mickey & Haley {2005}

Haley wearing her new Mickey ears {2009}

Haley's Mickey hair {2011}

The 7 'Trees in Mickey shirts {2011}

"I only hope we never lose sight of one thing - It was all started by a mouse."

"Why do we have to grow up?  I know more adults who have the children's approach to life.  They're people who don't give a hang what the Joneses do.  You see them at Disneyland every time you go there.  They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures, and they have a degree of contentment with what life has brought - sometimes it isn't much, either."

-Walt Disney

For more fun with the letter "M" be sure to check out Alphabe-Thursday.

It's my Birthday!

Yep, 42 years ago today, I was born.  Yep, I just told you my age.  42.  What?  It's just a number.

One of the kids told Mike he should let me sleep in and not have to get the kids all ready for school.  Then I reminded him I CAN'T sleep in!  I just can't do it.  So, I'll get up, but I won't have to get myself or the kids ready to walk out the door.  I can just sit back and watch.  :)  Maybe even have my cup of coffee. 

Later Mike and I will go out to lunch.  Maybe I'll go shopping.  Later the kids are making dinner and I get to open presents and have cake! 

While I wait, I thought I'd make a list.  Like so many other people do on their blogs.  How about a list of...

*42 Things I want to do Before my Next Birthday*

I know.  It's been done before, but this is more for me than for you.  I just thought if I put it out there for all the world to see, I might actually get some of it done.  So here, in no particular order, are the 42 things I want to do before February 10, 2013.

1.  Move to another state.

2.  Buy a house.

3.  Plant a garden.

4.  Read more.

5.  Practice piano.

6.  Exercise.

7.  Paint a room - or two.

8.  Ride my bike more.

9.  Send Zac (and later Taylor) snail mail at college.

10.  Bake bread often.

11.  Try at least one new recipe every week.

12.  Read my Bible.

13.  Get my hair cut.

14.  Post more on my blog.

15. Get my nails done.

16.  Paint something in the new house (that we have yet to buy) with chalkboard paint.

17.  Eat more vegetables.  (I like them, I just don't eat them as often as I should.)

18.  Buy some boots.

19.  Laugh.

20.  Play more games with the kids.

21.  Do more puzzles.

22.  Make new friends.

23.  Lose some weight.

24.  Have a family picture taken before both big kids go off to college in the fall.

25.  Scrapbook more.

26.  Sew a lot.

27.  Decorate our bedroom.

28.  Make a quilt.

29.  Keep in touch with old friends.

30.  Travel more.

31.  Go to the beach.

32.  Take a class.

33.  Do more Random Acts of Kindness

{This is a great blog!}

34.  Share.

35.  Craft more with the girls.

36.  Teach the kids to cook.

37.  Get outside.

38.  Be nice.

39.  Take more pictures. 

40.  Have more pictures taken of me.

41.  Take time away from the computer.

42.  Go camping.

And there you have it.  42 things. 

Happy Birthday to me.

a Little thunder

Thursday's weather forecast calls for PM Thunderstorms.  We haven't had rain in a while, so that will be nice. 

But, that's not the kind of thunder this post is about.

I'm talking about a website called ALittleThunder.org. 

A Little Thunder is a blog created by my good friends, Pam & Ryan Bryson. 

We've been friends for a long time.  When we met they had two children.  (The same age as two of ours.) 

We've known them since my Joey & their Annie (now both 9) were itty bitty. 

{Chad & my Haley}

In 2005 we said goodbye as their family left the states for England.

Our family then headed to Italy and there were lots of visits to each other's homes while we were overseas.

We watched, sadly, as they struggled to have another child.  In November of 2008, Eastyn was born.

They came back to the states and we followed shortly after.

 {Brysons and Roundtrees in 2010}

**************************************

On March 4 of last year, Isaac Thor Bryson, was born still at 20 weeks 5 days. Pam & Ryan have established an organization in memory of Isaac.

Even though his sweet little spirit was only here on earth for a short 20 weeks, it is their hope that A Little Thunder will allow his memory and life to live on for many years to come. 

Their organization will donate Comfort Boxes to families at The University of Kansas Hospital (KUMED), where Isaac was born.  They are doing a wonderful thing for other families going through the same thing they did.

Please visit their blog to read about the Bryson family and about sweet Isaac.  

Read more about the Comfort Boxes they're giving away and find out how you can help them along in their journey.

Alphabe-Thursday