Beloved Texas traditional fare...

Last night Jared and Diego were both available to come have dinner with us.  Jared is off of work this week, and Diego is housesitting nearby.  Diego has always been the grandson who is most like his Uncle Jared (in so many ways).

They both love chicken fried steak, so I knew I could lure them over for it.  I hardly ever make it any more; it's a lot of work and a lot of clean up!  These days I don't often have the majority of burners going as well as an assembly line of ingredients lined up on the counter.  

It was worth it for the hugs and satisfied smiles.  They even stuck around for a game of Scrabble afterword.  And there is enough steak left over for sandwiches (my favorite thing about doing all the work is the sandwich the next day), so they are invited back for lunch today.

Making it Monday...

Today I have:

...made TEN thousand trips to the back door to let Rudy in and out.

...contacted NINE companies to update our payment method.

...checked the pockets of EIGHT pair of jeans before tossing them in the washer.

...walked SEVEN hundred steps to the mailbox and back.

...made SIX cards.

...paid FIVE bills.

...washed, folded, and put away FOUR loads of clothes

...shredded THREE bins full of old bills, bank and employment documents.

...eaten TWO pieces of peanut butter toast.

...talked ONE grandson, home from college, into coming over to exhaust train Rudy.  I'll bet the boy is more exhausted than Rudy is.

Happy Easter...

I hope everybody enjoyed Easter blessings today.  

I put together some teeny baskets (inspired by Rachel Tessman on Youtube) to hold some chocolate treats for the girls.  Then I found out Bobby had made a quick trip home and that we would get to see him, so I made another without the flowers.  :)

When we got there, he was grabbing a nap on the sofa.  I took a quick snap when he woke up.

And it's bluebonnet season again, so I managed (barely) to talk the girls into taking a few pictures out in them.

They were not thrilled, and refused to go to a spot that is a much better setting but too public for their liking.  That's okay.   I made each of these three photos of the kids into postcards using the Touchnote app.  Love that app.  Open the app, choose a photo from your phone, write a message, include an address, and they print and mail it snail mail to the recipient.  

If I remember correctly, the cost is about $2 per postcard.  I have quite a few credits that I purchased when they were having a special.  Carey's mom really likes getting pictures of the kids in the mail.  I also used it while we were on vacation to send postcards to the kids.  They are printed on nice thick, glossy postcards.  Fun mail!

Tomorrow it's back to work, so I need to go pack a lunch.  Have a great week, everybody!

A day with boys...

We stole Diego (right) away for the day for a little road trip.  We went to the coast to visit Bobby (left) who is loving college life.  He was done with classes by 2, so we picked him up and made a tour of some family spots in towns near where he is now in school.

We took them to visit my grandfather's grave.  Most of my family (parents, all other grandparents) are buried in Nebraska.  All passed away before the boys came along.  I hadn't visited my grandfather's grave in years, so I thought we should let them come along so they are aware of the location.  

Then we went to my and Carey's home town and to a favorite sandwich shop for a late  lunch.  In the past, we have occasionally bought sandwiches and packed them home to share with the family, but the boys had never been to the shop before.  

Then we drove the couple of blocks to show them the house I grew up in, and then across town to see the house Carey grew up in.

Then we drove Bobby back to his dorm.  His campus is on the coast, and this view of the bay is right across the street from the dorms. 

Probably not a massively fun day for them, but Bobby hasn't been home yet since school started, so they hadn't seen each other for a few weeks.  And it's always important to impart some family history, and hugely important to make sure they know we love to spend time with them.  And feed them.  :)

Graduation 2017...

2017 graduating class (center in blue)

Today was high school graduation day for Bobby and Chandler.  How did it get here so fast?  The ceremony was held in a neighboring town at a university arena.  The graduates were seated on the floor of the arena in blue caps and gowns...571 graduates I believe.

Chandler accepting his diploma

Chandler was close to the front of the group.  Why, oh why, didn't I take some test shots of classmates ahead of him to practice the timing?  The photographer there at the front was taking photos of each graduate, and the school is supposed to send them to the parents, so maybe we will get a better photo of him then.  The photographer's flash went off exactly when I took this, and it really washed out my photo.  They had them moving pretty fast, so I only had one chance.

Bobby accepting his diploma

 Bobby's turned out better.  Pretty fuzzy...but then I was about 40 yards away...at least you can see his happy smile.

Bittersweet.  So proud of them both, but such a big step into their future of being out on their own.

Bobby and Kasey

We took Bobby and the family out afterwards for lunch.  (Chandler was with his mom today.  Ah, the trials of modern families.)  Tomorrow they will both be at a barbecue in their honor at Kasey and Beau's house, but Carey will have to be at work, so will miss it.  I told Kasey I would bake some cookies...or cookie bars, actually...so I'd better go get started.  Kasey is just hoping the rain will hold off.

A beautiful pumpkin pie...

photo credit:  Bing images

If you recall, I announced to my family at the beginning of the month that our Sunday family dinner desserts throughout the month of November would all be pumpkin based.  The first two weeks were great, third week was okay but no one's favorite.  Every week Diego suggested just plain ol' pumpkin pie (his favorite) for the next week.

The boys are going to be with their other parents for Thanksgiving.  That means that our feast will have three fewer chairs around the table.  So I thought I would make Diego his pumpkin pie as the Sunday dessert today.

I had all the ingredients in the pantry, and it went together quickly.  Really quickly.  In fact, once it went in the oven, I thought, "Well, that was easier than I remember." 

It turned out beautifully.  I let it cool, and transported it to Kasey's.  After dinner, Diego was the first to cut himself a slice.  When I got around to getting a piece, the first bite made me laugh at myself.  I hadn't put any sugar in it!  It was so...blah.  I felt so bad for Diego!  He hadn't said a word.  Ah, well, I'm sure he will get some in a few days.  If not I'll make him another...with all the ingredients next time.  :)

Making it Monday...

Today is Diego's 15th birthday.  Aaaack!  15!

I usually have a lot of trouble trying to design cards for the boys, but this one popped into my head this afternoon exactly as you see it above.  All I had to do was go through my photo files till I found this photo taken back when we lived on the the ranch, carve the 'you rock' into it via PhotoShop, use MSOfficePublisher to lay out the card front and 'happy birthday' inside for printing, print it out on watercolor paper, hunt for some raffia ($%*#) jute (double $%*#) burlap ribbon to unravel and use to accessorize, paper cutter, scissors, hot glue gun, foam mounting tape, and put it together.  Easy!

Sheesh!  Glad the hard design work was done for me.

I love being creative, and say thank you prayers often for the inspiration that just floats down and hovers around me.  :)  And the lifetime supply of craft supplies stashed in the craft room.  

Brace yourself...

Kasey couldn't get away from work, so I got to take Diego to the orthodontist to have his braces removed this morning.  He's worn them for two years...he's hiding his excitement behind that yawn.  :)

What a great smile!  And he's not even flashing his dimples yet.

His retainer will be ready this afternoon, so I'll pick him up after school and take him back to pick it up.  I love helping out with scheduling conflicts...it lets me share in their special experiences.

A Diego kind of day...

Tuesday started early and ended late.  I had to go into the city for an early appointment, run errands, be back in time to meet with a longarm quilter about some completed quilt tops.  And when all that was done I called to see if Diego wanted to come spend some time with us.  Hearing his excitement-filled 'yes' gave me such a lift.

internet photo

Dinner, television, general hanging out time, until midnight when we settled into lawn chairs in the dark to see what we could see of the Perseid meteor shower.  We were a little early, and it was a little cloudy.  Diego went inside for awhile till the clouds cleared off, and he ended up missing the best ones, but Jared and I enjoyed spending a couple of hours star gazing.

Up early enough today for lunch out and a trip to Half-Price Books.  Diego is a true reader.  I set a two-book limit, and he had no trouble picking them out.  A long stoplight a few blocks from the store found him so engrossed already that he didn't even notice me snapping a quick pic...if I hadn't had to drive I would probably have looked the same.  :)  He's my kinda kid.

Growing boys...

As summer wanes, we are trying to squeeze in more time with the kids before school starts.  It's harder with the boys since they split time between their home with their mom and their home with their dad.  It only gets more difficult as they get older and have busier schedules.

And now Bobby is starting his first job as well!  Today in fact.  So on Sunday I asked him if he wanted to come spend the night at our house before work started, and he said yes.  I'm so thankful that a junior in high school still wants to spend time with us.

We played Apples to Apples (the Disney version that his little sister had left here last time she came, which gave us a lot of silly laughs), and then a game of Scrabble.

In the morning I made him his favorite iced coffee, which is a special tradition for him at my house.

Monday we went out to lunch together, and enjoyed the scenery en route.  I coerced him into taking a photo of the old woodie station wagon driving beside us on the road.  Love the color.

We talked about inherited family traits, television, near-death experiences, his dad's parents (because I think the world of them...he and his brother really lucked out in the grandparent department, if I do say so myself), the coming school year, and a myriad of other things.

It was a day to treasure.

A whole week gone by...

...so by way of a quick catch up.

Tuesday:  chore day
Wednesday:  Carey got home.
Thursday:  another grandson licensed to drive (that's his birthday card above)
Friday: grocery shop
Saturday: quiet day while men went to soccer game
Sunday: made Jared's birthday pie x2
Today: spent ALL afternoon at clinic coaxing blood from this turnip, birthday dinner out

Spring Break visit 3...

Not last Christmas, but the one before that...or possibly the one before that even...I found a kit for Ninjabread (gingerbread) cookies.  It came with the cookie mix, the icing mix, the cookie cutters, and the candy decorations.  I had bought it as a gag gift for my son who was taking mixed martial arts at the time.  It has languished in my pantry ever since.

About six months ago, Diego saw the box sitting in my kitchen along with some other things that I was planning on getting rid of.  He begged to have it.  I told him that next time he came to stay over we would bake and decorate the cookies, so I put the kit back into the pantry.  Then we were without a kitchen for awhile, so they have stayed tucked away.

Yesterday, after work, I picked up Diego on my way home.  He was ready to get baking, but I had not slept well the previous night and was exhausted, so I talked him into waiting till today to do the baking.

This afternoon we mixed them up; he rolled out the dough; and then he cut them into their ninja fighter selves, and into the oven they went.

Once they were cooled and ready to decorate, he said he didn't feel good.  No, he hadn't eaten any of the cookie dough, so that wasn't it.  He was starting a new prescription today, so I'm wondering if maybe it wasn't agreeing with him.

I ended up decorating them alone.  I felt terrible, because he had been waiting for so long to do it.  We could use the cookie cutters another time I suppose, but really the odds aren't great.

These little fighting guys crack me up.  It was fun facing them off for the photographs.  :)

These two little round ones were the left over dough, so they got a less 'ninja' decorative treatment, though I just realized I should have made them throwing stars.  :)

No photos of Diego since he was down for the count before I thought about getting the camera out.  When I took him home, I delivered the cookies as well.  I hope he felt well enough later to eat one.

A Bobby kind of day...

Wasn't this just yesterday?  Oh, he was the cutest baby ever.

Now he's FIFTEEN!  And still a cutie.

Bobby's birthday was in July.  For the past few years, I've been taking him out to lunch and shopping for a birthday present, but we hadn't had a chance to do that yet this year.  So today was the day.  He chose P.F. Chang's...it was really good.

And since it's right across the street from Trader Joe's, I wanted to run in and grab some Sparkling French Berry Lemonade...love that stuff.

While there I made the most AMAZING find!  They have a new Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate!!!  I love cold-brewed coffee.  I used to make my own, but got out of the habit.  This is so cool.  Since my little Bobster loves iced coffee like I do, I made us each an iced coffee as soon as we got back home.  I just happened to have a bag of 'magic' Sonic ice in the freezer, and a can of whipped cream and a bottle of caramel sauce in the fridge.  

Lounging on the sofa with a cold glass of coffee makes a nice respite in the middle of the day.

In a few minutes we are going to dust off my old recipe binder, and bake a couple of loaves of my mother's bread recipe.  Nothing like warm, fresh homemade bread with real butter and homemade fig preserves!