The thing about vacations...

The thing about vacations is that even though I enjoy my time away from home, I really miss home too.  Home means that I can see Brantley pretty much when I want to -- as long as he's awake, lol.  I so missed my little munchkin last week!!  We got to visit with him Sunday after church and he just giggled when I was playing with him.  To hear him laugh like that is such a blessing!!

Tallan took this picture of all three of my g-babies.  I think they are so beautiful and she did a good job capturing all that grandbaby beauty!!  Just look at those sweet faces!

Boston and Bug Juice

This past week, I was fortunate enough to get to go with David to Boston.  He was going for a conference, I was going for some down time, which I really needed.  While he was attending conference sessions and activities, I had time to relax, read and walk around a bit.  We were able to walk around and see some really interesting places.  The Boston Common is a very pretty park that was just a few blocks from our hotel.  The state capital overlooks the Bostom Common. 

If you walk up that street and turn left on Beacon Street, you will pass the Cheers Bar that was featured in the tv show Cheers.  Inside looks nothing like the tv set but a replica was created and is upstairs.  There is also a replica Cheers Bar at Faneuil Hall.  We had lunch there one day.  Every thing on the menu is named after the characters on the show.  I half expected everyone to yell Norm when we walked in, they didn't, LOL. 

We saw Old North Church, which is where signal lanterns of Paul Revere were placed in the steeple to warn the country of the march of the British troops.   We saw cemeteries from the 1700s.  To me, they looked like something from a horror movie -- not that I watch horror movies. 

We saw the Bunker Hill Monument.  The Battle of Bunker Hill was not actually fought on Bunker Hill, it was fought on Breed's Hill, one hill over because it was already secure and was closer to the water, according to our tour guide. 

We saw Fenway Park.  I really wanted to see a ball game, but the Boston Red Sox didn't play until Friday night and we were already on our way home by then.  But, we did get to tour the park, which was really cool in my book.  Fenway Park is celebrating 100 years this year.  It seats 39,000 people and still has original seats that were grandfathered in and can not be removed.

We saw Longfellow House - Washington's headquarters.  This was home to Henry W. Longfellow, 19th century poet and served as headquarters for General George Washington during the Siege of Boston, July 1775 - April 1776.

We saw Trinity Church in Copley Square.  This church was founded in 1733.  I found it very interesting that a lot of old buildings are now surrounded by skyscrapers.  This is one of my favorite shots of this church -- its reflection in the skyscraper across the street.  I love that the old buildings have been preserved and are not just torn down to make way for "newer and better" buildings.

We drove by the Harvard campus, as well as the MIT campus.  Boston has a ton of colleges and universities!

We had a really good time in Boston, but we were glad to get back home on Friday.  On Saturday morning, we picked up Phoebe and Sophie for our May weekend.  They think it is a rule that they have to get a snack from the gas station where we usually meet them.  They had just had lunch, but they had to have that snack anyway.  Phoebe got "bug juice" and Sophie told her that bug juice wasn't any good.  She said that she didn't like eating bugs and that spiders were gross. 

It was so very hot on Saturday (much different from Boston weather) so we pulled out the water hose and let them run under the spray.  We didn't have a sprinkler and their little pool is still packed up right now.  We need to get another one anyway, probably.  They didn't care whether the water was from the hose, the sprinkler or in a pool, they had the best time running in that water, or the rainforest, as Phoebe was calling it. 

They also had the best time playing with our new kitten, Jack.  Phoebe loves cats and she carried him around as much as he'd let her.  Which was pretty much all weekend.  He really likes to be held or to be near someone. 

If you are ever near Boston, look up bostontours.com and take a tour with those guys.  If you are ever near a gas station, purchase a bottle of bug juice.  I really don't think they have spiders in them.  :)

 

Mini pizzas

Yesterday evening Tallan and Brantley came over and Tallan and I made mini pizzas.  I found this on Pinterest recently and thought they'd be really good.  And they are!  :) 

We made mini pepperoni pizzas but the possibilities are endless with this recipe.  I want to try tomatoes and fresh basil on these next!  Maybe add some bacon??  Oh goodness, I am making myself hungry!

http://cookingoncloverlane.blogspot.com/search/label/Pizza-Easy

Weekend with Brantley

Last weekend Jacob and Tallan went out of town for the first time since Brantley's birth last June.  We kept Brantley from Friday night to Monday afternoon.  Tallan and I were both a tad bit nervous about the weekend. She was nervous because she'd never been away from Brantley without being able to run to our house to see him if she wanted.  I was a tad bit nervous because I don't sleep well when Brantley is at our house and I was afraid I would be super exhausted.  He and I both slept well Friday night but not so much on Saturday or Sunday nights, however, he did sleep, he just kept waking himself (and me) up by pulling the cannula out of his nose.  I must say he slept very well Sunday and Monday mornings though.  Such a precious baby he is!  We all made it through the weekend just fine.  Jacob and Tallan had a great time and David and I enjoyed our time with Brantley.

Strawberry Delight

I usually don't make desserts except for special occasions because, well, because I would eat them.  Every once in a while I will make something for just the hubby and me and when I saw the picture of this on my cell phone the other day, I knew I would have to make this. 

I promised myself that I would look up that recipe when I had comptuer access rather than just viewing it on my phone.  When I looked it up yesterday morning, I knew that a trip to the store was necessary. 

The recipe suggests that you let it sit for 24 hours.  Now who in their right mind would let that yummy goodness sit in the fridge for a full 24 hours???  Not me!  Or the hubs!  This stuff was THAT good!  I used vanilla wafers as the crust, two 14-oz bags of frozen unsweetened strawberries and reduced fat cream cheese and cool whip -- but don't tell my hubby that.  That will be our little secret! 

Here's the link cause I know that whoever reads this will want to pay Mary at Deep South Dish a visit and make this recipe too.  Don't blame me though if you become addicted! 

http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2012/01/strawberry-delight.html.

Cheap, fast and easy

In my "about me description" I stated that the purpose of this blog is to share recipes and crafts I find on the web.  I found this recipe a long time ago and since it is now committed to my memory (that in itself is a miracle!), I can't give proper credit for the recipe.  I've altered it just a tad bit anyway. 

I have always loved Campbell's tomato soup.  I'm not crazy about any other canned soup, but I love tomato soup and always have.  This recipe makes what I call "grown-up" tomato soup.  I also love recipes that are simple, use few ingredients and come together pretty quickly. 

1 large can of Campbell's tomato soup (I use store brands of lots of stuff, but for this recipe, I prefer Campbell's soup)
1 can Hunts Fire Roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, pureed
1 can Hunts Diced tomatoes with spicy red pepper, pureed
Chicken broth

Mix the soup and tomatoes in your pan, add enough chicken broth to thin the soup to your favorite consistency.  Heat and eat.....how simple is that?  This recipe is so versatile -- you can use any flavor of the tomatoes you want, you can puree the tomatoes or not and you can thin the soup with the broth or not.

Now to explain my title...I saw a quote years ago that stuck with me.  Again, it has been many years since I first read this quote and since it is filed in my memory (whew, will miracles never cease???), I can't give proper credit for the quote either.

The quote is:  "If we are what we eat, then I'm cheap, fast and easy."  That certainly fits in with this recipe!

Hope you will give it a try if you like tomato soup and let me know if you like this recipe or not.

P.S.  Don't forget the grilled cheese....man I'm hungry now!

Summer the 1st

The girls came to stay with us a few weekends ago and since they were out of school on President's Day, they got to spend an extra night.  As always, they are constantly entertaining us.  We met the King's at our usual meeting place and while Rick and David were getting our food, I sat down at the table by Jessica, Phoebe and Sophie.  Phoebe immediately said:  "Mom, I love you, but I want to sit by Meme."  Sophie then decided that she wanted to sit by me as well.  After our meal, we loaded the girls in our car and headed home.  They had brought bags of Valentine's candy with them and of course, they wanted to eat that on the way home.  Sophie brought mostly suckers, I think.  We had to make a potty stop on the way and when I got her out of the car, she had three suckers stuck to her pants, one was in her seat, one was in the floorboard and one fell on the ground.  Phoebe said that she was going to eat some candy that night, some the next day and skip eating candy on Sunday, but she would eat more on Monday.  She didn't want to get too much sugar in her body.  I think all the candy was gone by the next day though.  Whether they ate it, it hit the ground or it was just wasted, I'm not sure.

Saturday night, Brantley came to spend the night with us too.  I've never kept all three of them at once, well, not overnight anyway, and honestly, I was a bit nervous.  The girls can be pretty demanding of my time and well, Brantley needs lots of attention too and I wasn't sure how I could manage with all three of them.  Thankfully, Brantley slept most of the night and the girls were good about going to bed too.  Sunday morning, David took the girls to church and I stayed home with Brantley -- he'd been sick and we were still afraid to get him out too much.  He went back to sleep about 11 and slept until almost 2:30 or so, I think.  I had changed him from his sleeper to a onesie and when Sophie saw him when they returned from church, she said, oh, Brantley's so cute.  It is just so sweet how much she loves baby Brantley. 

Later that afternoon, I took the girls out to jump on the trampoline.  Phoebe has gotten quite good at jumping, but Sophie is still a little unsteady and Phoebe would make her fall when she would jump.  Sophie would cry and say, "she fallded me down."  It was a beautiful day, but still quite cold outside so as I was trying to talk the girls inside I told them that maybe the next time they come it will be warm enough to play outside.  Phoebe said, "I'm coming back, Summer the 1st."  I'm ok with that, she can come back Summer the 1st if she wants to.  And we will play outside all day long!

Phoebe likes to be in the bathroom with me when I cleanse my face at night too.  Of course, she wants to cleanse her face as well.  My cleanser was getting low and I said, Phoebe, we are about out of cleanser.  She said, do you know where the makeup store is?  I said, yeah, I do.  She got all excited and exclaimed that she'd have to tell her mom that there is a makeup store in MS.  If you're not aware, I am a Mary Kay beauty consultant -- mostly just purchasing my own product, so my makeup store is very close!  

Chicken nuggets or tenders are a huge part of our weekends when the girls come.  They'd like them for breakfast, lunch and supper, if I will let them.  Sophie asked for ketchup for hers and then told me that mom and dad didn't have any ketchup because meme took it.  Sorry mom and dad.  I didn't know I took your ketchup.  :)

We also play the love you more game.  I tell the girls that I love them to the moon and back.  Sophie replied that she loves me to the moon and back.  I said, but I love you to the moon and back 3 times.  She said, she loves me to the moon and back 4 times.  So I said, I love you to the moon and back 15 times.  She said, I love you to the moon and back 4 times.  Hehe, she's learning, but doesn't quite get it just yet.  When they were here Christmas, Phoebe wanted to watch The Polar Express over and over and over and over, well, you get the point...so when I was playing that game with her, she stopped and thought about what she could come up with and after a little while, she said, I love you more than this movie.  Well, what she actually said, was I love this movie more than you, but I believe she meant it to be the other way.  :)

We had some time on Monday before meeting Jessica and Rick, so we stopped by the mall in Tupelo.  We rode the carousel once, then let them play in the play area and Sophie wanted to "twirl" again.  So we did, after getting a cookie and a drink.  The girls had a great time -- I can't wait for Brantley to get big enough to enjoy the "twirling" and the play area!

Until next time.....

Whiskers on my eyes and other funny stuff

I love being Meme!  The girls are constantly entertaining and so dang cute!  And Brantley is just the sweetest little cuddle bug ever!

Sophie wanted me to pick her up and when I did, she noticed my eyelashes, she said, Meme, you have whiskers on your eyes.  LOL, too funny!

She really loves her baby dolls and I think she thinks of Brantley as one of her baby dolls too.  Instead of saying, I love Brantley, she says, Baby Brantley loves me.  Yes, sweetheart, I believe he does. 

She also got in some lessons on talking on the telephone.  I think she is practicing up for her teenage years.

Phoebe loved wearing her Mama's first pair of glasses (I think they were her first pair anyway) because she wanted to look like a teacher.  If anyone knows where to find some glasses that she can play with, please let me know. 

Brantley now gets to come off the oxygen for 2 hours 2 times a day.  He is adorable at any time, but he just looks totally adorable without the canula (sp??) attached to his face.  It is so nice to be able to pick him up and take him to another room too.

Just look at that sweet face! 

Thank you God for your blessings on me! 

Papaw Jack

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I posted on Friday that the granddaughters were coming for the weekend and that they were bringing their parents with them.  The purpose of the visit was for everyone to attend Papaw Jack's 96th birthday party on Sunday afternoon.  It was a good party, there was quite a crowd there.  I understand that Papaw Jack's wish is to make it to 100.  I hope you get your wish!

Hobo Packets

I made these last night for our supper.  I had a little bit of ground beef on hand, but really didn't want just plain burgers - these were definitely not plain.  I think the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of Dale's sauce, but I used 3 and after 45 minutes, the veggies were still not done so I let them cook for a while longer.  I planned on checking them after another 15 minutes, but it really was about 30 more minutes before I checked them again -- I just could not tear myself away from the book I was reading.  :)  They were very good and we deemed them a do-over!

http://www.southernplate.com/2008/10/hobo-packets-this-weeks-quick-and-easy.html

Peanut Butter Dip -- or Crack Dip

I made this peanut butter dip, or crack dip as I like to call it, in the recent past.  I first made it and frosted a yellow cake with it and then made it to dip fruit.  Oh my goodness, this stuff is so good.  If you are a peanut butter lover like I am, you will see why I am calling it crack dip! I plan on making it as a frosting again this weekend, but will either put it on brownies or a chocolate cake. 

http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/creamy-peanut-butter-fruit-dip.html

Share and share alike

My oldest granddaughter told me recently that a person doesn't share something until they are done with it.  Of course this rule applied when she was playing with something that her little sister also wanted to play with.  That same rule apparently doesn't apply when little sister is playing with something that big sister wants to play with.  Funny girls -- they always make me laugh. 

Christmas Card Display

I know this is late, but this is how I displayed my Christmas cards this time thanks to Martha Stewart.  :)

http://www.marthastewart.com/275278/holiday-organizing-tips/@center/276989/organizing#/198256