Remembering my Grandma

Some people have their wedding rehearsal dinners at big fancy restaurants. Dan and I had ours at my Grandma's house.

Lots of people have their child's first birthday celebration in their own home. Ian had (one of) his at my Grandma's house.

Christmas, Easter, New Years, Fish Frys, Barbecues, do you know where the family gathered? Yep, at Grandma's house.

And now, so suddenly, so unexpectedly, my Grandma is no longer at Grandma's house.

Instead, she is in a house far more grand, far more precious, and far more permanent than her earthly home.

Instead of being at Grandma's house, she is now in the Father's house, and that simple thought can make me smile even when I find myself misty-eyed.

She was one of a kind, was deeply loved, and will be greatly missed

Let the 15 minutes begin

Yesterday was the annual NICU Reunion at the hospital where Ian was born. While we were enjoying the festivities, we were interviewed by the local news. You can check it out here:

Video Link


P.S. Sorry for the external link. I didn't see the code on their site to embed the video on the page and I didn't feel like trying to figure it out.

Road Trip Pics

The week before last we took a week off from work, loaded up the kid and went out on the road for a vacation. We didn't venture outside of Texas, but we had a good time. Here are a few of my favorite pics (click to enlarge).


Dan and Ian on the beach in Galveston



Ian hiding from us outside The Aquarium restaurant in Kemah.
I can't look at this picture without laughing



Eating ice cream at the Blue Bell plant in Brenham


Funny story: We were visiting some friends in Houston when a very tired Ian decided he needed a nap. After a few minutes of effort, he pulled a cushion off of their couch, placed it on the floor, and passed out.



You see that face? That is Ian's irritated face.
He was having quite the time chasing his new found friends around the park in Georgetown. So when his pesky Momma finally caught up with him and asked him to pose for a picture, he was not happy :)

Why didn't I try this sooner?

I had a definite "Duh!" moment today.

I was preparing dinner (meatloaf was on the menu tonight) with my assistant chef, when I realized I hadn't grabbed the breadcrumbs from the pantry. As I turned to walk into the pantry, I glanced at the counter and saw an almost empty bread bag on the counter. There were two end pieces left in the bag.

I'll admit it. I'm a discriminating bread eater. As a general rule I don't eat the ends of bread. On occasion I'll eat an open faced sandwich using the end, but it's very rare. There you have it. Sometimes the truth is ugly.

Anyway, probably inspired by some show on the food network in my subconscious, I decided to use the leftover ends to make breadcrumbs.
I grabbed my cheap Hamilton Beach food chopper, tore the bread into pieces, put the lid on, and turned it on high for, oh I don't know, 30 seconds or so. And then an amazing thing happened.

Right before my very eyes I had breadcrumbs.

Whole wheat breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs that probably cost all of .25 cents

So can anyone tell me why I've been spending 3 bucks a pop on store bought breadcrumbs? Anyone? No I didn't think so.

Oh, and you know what else I did? I added some Italian seasoning, a pinch of sea salt, and voilà, seasoned breadcrumbs.

It's the little things in life I tell ya. The little things

Things that make you say "Aww"

Yesterday morning after washing Ian's face, I began the not too terrible task of brushing his teeth. Oddly enough he loves to brush and have his teeth brushed, he's weird that way. About halfway through I noticed that he was trying to say something I couldn't quite make out. "What are you trying to say Pooh?", I inquired as I removed the toothbrush from his mouth. He looked at me, and with a very serious expression, yelled out "HUG!", and then quickly threw his arms around my neck and gave me a tight squeeze. As I returned the embrace of my little one I was overcome with the warm mushy feeling, as I call it.

"Thank you Ian. That was so sweet." I said, as I gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled his cheesy little smile, and as I went to finish brushing his teeth, he decided to bless me with 3 additional hugs, each time yelling out "HUG!" right before.

So there you have it folks. Another story that may not mean a whole lot to you, but means the world to me.



photo from hien_it

When Mom is away...

The boys will play

Hey Mom, did you know I could climb a 6ft ladder all by myself?

Hey Mom, you know how you won't let me stand in the swing? Dad will, and it's fun.

I mean REALLY REALLY fun!

Time for cookies

(excuse the grainy pic to the left, it was taken on a cell cam)

A couple of weeks ago the control panel on our stove went out and as a result we could no longer use the oven. Since it was an older stove that was already there when we moved into the house, we opted to get a new one instead of replacing it. When the new stove was finally delivered you know what we had to do don't you? Christen the new stove by baking chocolate chip cookies, of course. Dark chocolate chip cookies to be exact. How else are we supposed to get our antioxidants?

Anyway, since Ian loves to help with, well, anything, I enlisted his help and we got to work.

Are those cookies done yet?

Yummy, I like cookies. Oh, are you taking a picture of me?

Ok, I'm ready to take my picture now