A Memorable May!

Whew...is it already the end of May?!? It's really hard for me to believe that May is almost over...which has had a lot goin' on!

We "wrapped up" our school year this past week; so we are thoroughly enjoying this week without having many commitments. {Hence...time to catch up on my blog...woohoo!}

Of course, this past weekend was a holiday weekend, and we successfully squeezed out every memorable inch out of it! And now it's Wednesday, and we're already closing in on next weekend when Daddy doesn't have to go to work every day! So now I look back and wonder where the heck May went! I still can't account for every day, but there were some pretty memorable days in it!

At the beginning of this month, I began (once again) Weight Watchers, and I'm so thankful for the great group of gals that are in it with me...it does make it more enjoyable! I think it's what works the best for me...I enjoy the monotony of writing things down (give me a checklist, and I'm all over it!), and the girls enjoy helping me track the calories, fiber and fat grams. I did really well on it after I had Cricket, so we'll see how I do on it this go-round! So after I attended my first WW meeting and took Cricket to soccer, we ran out to get last minute things for our cinco de mayo party...and stayed out way too late, for the next morning was the Belk Sale benefiting Bethany! And of course I didn't have time to sell as many tickets as I had planned on selling, sooo...I guess that meant I had to spend them, oh well...shopping for charity!

For those that know me, they know that I am NOT a morning person...but tell me that there's a sale that will end at 10 AM, and somehow I can muster up the strength to become a morning person! Oh my word...next year, I'm going to really push this sale! It's a great fundraiser! Bethany was able to sell tickets to Belk for $5, and Bethany was able to keep the profits! The tickets got one in the doors early at Belk and I'm telling you....everything was marked down drastically! It was like I was living a dream! You know...the dream where everything is marked down and you can grab what you can before the time runs out! The stores were so quiet (with the exception of cash registers' ringing and people hollering over sales!), and there were coffee stations with Krispy Kreme donuts (I did well, WW friends!) I'm telling you it was a dream! We bought a couple of little Ralph Lauren dresses for Cricket and Lovey (they're Lovey's favorite, and I'm pretty sure that they were only $10!), a RL shirt for AngelWings ($10), an MP4 player for $17, Ricci bought me some more Estee Lauder pleasures for Mother's Day (thank you, Ricci!), and I can't remember what other things we bought...I'm telling you...great sales all throughout the store; then they started to take the magic signs down when they opened up the doors to the public!

One thing that I've learned...being on the board of directors for Bethany means...fundraising! Previously, I didn't really know that 1/2 of Bethany's funds come from donations, and the other 1/2 comes from adoptions. There is no charge to the moms that come through and receive counseling and then choose to use another means of adoption. So this next year's sale, I'm going to come and get you gals to purchase these tickets and put on your shopping shoes...cause we're hitting the Belk stores early! In the name of charity!!!

Yes, I began WW just in time for our 4th annual cinco de mayo party...oh well! And for some reason, I didn't seem to get the camera out as often as I usually do, but here are a few pics of some of our closest loved ones that celebrated the special day with us.

As our tradition, I served the usual: Alals' chicken-spinach enchiladas, black beans with lime, Spanish rice (I ran out of time and fudged on this one with a semi-homemade version...if anyone has a good recipe for Spanish rice, I'd love it if you share it with me!), and for the first time I served a new appetizer, Black Bean Tartlets, that I thought was really yummy. Try it...I'm sure you'll love it too!

Black Bean Tartlets
Yields: 32 appetizers

Garnishes: sour cream, fresh cilantro

Ingredients for the tartlets:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ice water

Combine first 8 ingredients in a food processor; pulse until blended. Add butter; pulse until mixture is crumbly. Add egg and ice water; process just until the mixture forms a ball.
Divide dough in half; shape each half of dough into 16 (1") balls. Press balls into lightly greased miniature (1 3/4") muffin pans, pressing evenly into bottom and up sides.
Bake tartlet shells at 450° for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove shells to wire racks, and cool completely.

Ingredients for the Black Bean Salsa:

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet yellow pepper
1 plum tomato, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, tossing well. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.

Spoon 1 tablespoon Black Bean Salsa into each tartlet shell; garnish, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

I found this recipe in the Christmas with Southern Living 2000

We served mango tea with fruit for the kids, sangria and a selection of Mexican beer for the mamas and the papas, and for dessert we once again served vanilla ice cream with your choice of toppings (toasted coconut, chocolate sauce, and Uncle Charles' roasted Spanish peanuts...thanks, Uncle Charles!) Of course, we were having such a great time that I didn't even start the waiting coffee...we were with such close friends and family that it was a very relaxed evening; it was wonderful!

Thankfully, God doesn't give us more than we can handle; the rest of that week I spent recovering from a ruptured ovarian cyst; Ricci took a day off of work to allow me to rest (there's not much more one can do but keep still and just rest...ahhh...that part's nice!), and he helped the girls with some of their schoolwork. There's nothing like knowing that you're in the home stretch...summer's awaiting around the corner!

Later that week, we celebrated 58th National Day of Prayer with our community. I have to say that I really appreciate this national holiday, and I also have to say that I struggle with knowing that others don't hold the same value of it as I do...why is it not more widely attended?

On the first Thursday in May, every community across the US is encouraged to hold an event at noon, and the theme for this year was “Prayer…America’s Hope” based on the verse from Psalm 33:22 which states, “May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Oh! How we need His unfailing love to rest upon us, and oh...we need to be faithfully putting our hope in Him!

This is the second year that I've helped facilitate our location's event, and I love seeing who participates in it! It's such a sweet time of coming together (denominations set aside) as a body of believers that desire our God to hear us as one church. Our pastor Jeremy led us this year, and he did a fabulous job; he opened up the time with a reading of Psalm 33, and then we spent time in prayer for our government, our military, our media, our businesses, our churches, and our families! What a sweet time it is! I'm thankful that my girls have the opportunity to hopefully grow up remembering this experience as a special one in our community.

That afternoon, we spent some time playing outside with Savannah, Ben, Emmaline and Jonathan (the creek is so full from all of the rain, and it's just irresistible to children!), then we had a memorable late lunch at Piccadilly (I'll spare you the details!) with friends before a play date at our new favorite park...welp...almost our favorite...I had to call the girls back to get back in the car...we'd have to come back to the playground, but not today...the battery was flirting with death! So after "I" took care of the car (at the fixit shop, of course! "I" meaning...I ordered a new battery, watched it being installed and paid for it! Yes, Daddy'd be proud!), we were on the road again!!

That next Saturday Jenna graduated from UT-Martin! Woohoo! We're all sooo very proud of you, Jenna! We were supposed to go to her graduation, but after the car was acting up and we were all so exhausted from busi-ness, we decided to play hookie and stay at home...I hear they call that a "staycation"! LOVED~IT! (Sorry, Jenna!) Others thought we were out of town, and it felt sooo good to just stay at home....the girls played while Ricci and I spent the day binge-watching this season of LOST. Wow~it's really picking up the pace....but now we have to wait until 2010?!? What's up with that?!?

Mother's Day couldn't have been sweeter...every year is sweet, but this one tops them all! The girls took the opportunity to call it a Mother's day weekend...who am I to argue with them?!? They started giving me gifts on Friday and Saturday....they're like their mamma, who just can't keep a gift a secret! Ricci bought me two new Adirondack chairs....I love'em! Come over and sit a spell in 'em with me! And they all made me breakfast in bed while the girls made me special cards and gifts.

AngelWings made me these gorgeous earrings...including the beautifully, wrapped box! Thank you, MaeMae! And thank you, girls and Ricci, for loving me and thinking that I'm the mom you say I am! I love you all...to the moon and back...and around and around....!

Speaking of Mother's Day, the end of this month has been a little discomforting (is that a word?) because our family will be getting together to 'lay to rest' our dear Alal, who has been so incredibly important in all of our lives. The flip side...we get an extra trip to see the rest of our family in Louisiana! That's good!

This past week, we've thoroughly enjoyed participating in some of the gardening lectures and workshops with Rock City's 1st annual Southern Blooms Festival! We've learned a lot and incorporated several of the lessons into the end-of-the-year schoolweek!

This past weekend, we did our usual Friday craziness and then had some friends over for an early Memorial day cookout. After we ate some yummy BBQ, we headed over to the Wilderness Theatre to see the movie, Night at the Museum 2, which was really good! There's nothing like sitting out under the stars with friends and watching a movie on the "world's largest movie screen"!

Here's a couple of pics...taken in the pitch-black; sorry for the blindness y'all experienced afterwards! You know...it's important to make memories!

The three amigos! Marion & Indiana Jones!
Two peas in a pod!

George & Wendy and Co. (couldn't find the rest of them in the dark!)

Saturday morning, we all awoke a little later than we had planned...we had to get over to RC to make our hypertufas! (Don't worry...I had to look up the word as well!) "Hypertufa is a man made substitute for Tufa rock. Tufa is a spongy cellular rock found in limestone country and especially where water has been involved in the wearing and leaching out of the original materials to effect a porous spongy consistency. In many countries throughout the world this natural stone has for centuries been hollowed out and carved for tubs and planters." (quote taken from here)

We each made a garden container out of a mixture of Portland cement, sand, peat moss and perlite. Camera? Didn't even think of it as we ran out of the house! oops!

That evening, we ran up to Sewanee for dinner with Aunt Jan, Uncle Eddie & Erich. We made our traditional pizzas and ice-cream, and let the pups have a good time...mental note...next time remember to bring an extra tennis ball!And the girls gave cousin Erich quite the workout! They had him running them all over the house..Macy was riding on his back for at least 30 minutes straight until we told her to get off...then he just took the fun outside on a wild chase all over the property with flashlights....what more fun could a girl have?!? Thanks, Erich, for all of the fun!It's so relaxing being up there...well, I'm not sure it is for Erich! The waterfall was huge after all of the rain that we've had this month; it was difficult to hear one another when on their deck overlooking the falls. Before we left, I had to snap these photos...I know it's poor lighting...I just had to get this photo before they all moved!

Unknowingly, Erich's moving in for the "my favorite cousin" title! Sorry, Will!

I just couldn't resist this photo! I could make a collage of all of the different pictures of the girls and Uncle Eddie still looking for Waldo! This is my Uncle Eddie that partook of teaparty after teaparty with me as a little girl! We love you, Uncle Eddie!

Ooh...it is exciting that we've wrapped up our school year! Now, of course, I had planned way more than was reasonable, so we'll still be doing some readings together over the summer, but I find that enjoyable and not feeling like I'm behind the 8-ball! And the girls are participating in some summer-reading-programs, so they'll get to count their free-reading assignments as books that count toward these extra rewarding programs...woohoo! We're also enjoying soccer practice, swimming and will be enjoying tennis and music camps! Woohoo, Summer, bring on the F-U-N!

Lions, Tigers, and...Sea Monsters, oh my!

The weekend...ahhh...we can't wait until Friday evening's arrival, for that's when Daddy comes home from work and promises not to go back until Monday! And staying up late on Friday nights, sleeping in late on Saturday mornings...mmm!

But this Saturday we had a rushed start to our day...we were all enjoying the warmth of our beds and then all of a sudden, we remembered...we were given free tickets to the educator's preview of the new National Geographic IMAX movie, Sea Monsters! And we didn't want to miss it! And I'm so glad that we didn't, for I have to say...this film is actually one of my favorite IMAX films yet!

It's a fascinating film that follows the life of a Dolichorhynchops, named Dolly, and her brother.

The movie begins with a little girl following her dog through the woods, and she comes across a washed out cliff that is revealing a wonderful fossil. The film flips back and forth between computer generated images of what was once under the ocean's surface ('thousands and thousands' of years ago!) and what is now above the waters' edge...say in the middle of continents (Kansas, Israel, etc.) where paleontologists (1900's to present) are finding the most amazing fossils of "Dolly's" and her other seamates.

The film takes us through Dolly's lifetime of what she would have seen and experienced (including a shark attack... that she survives...carrying with her a shark-tooth souvenir!); then as the film ends we follow the last few days of her life...and then merge back to the present day and watch archaeologists uncover the fossils of a Dolichorhynchops... with a shark's tooth embedded in its right wing.

Armed with knowledge/common sense, it's such a wonderful film to 'bring to life' what the earth perhaps looked like at one time (pre-flood?), and it helped me to realize that when the earth was indeed covered with so much water (and hmmm...fewer people) it makes sense to me that the waters would have been more alive! More water...more large animals of the sea! Following this logic (post-flood), it also makes sense to me that as our Creator promised to never flood the earth again AND as He promised to Abram (later called Abraham) that He would bless him with as many descendants as the stars in the heavens [Genesis 15:5]....it makes sense to me that we descendants would need more land!

I'm not sure if too many remember the many emails immediately following the deadly Tsunami that struck Sri Lanka during the Christmas holidays in 2004...the emails were full of U-G-L-Y (and very strange looking!) fish/animals that were supposedly washed ashore as a result of the Tsunami. Whether they're a result of the Tsunami or not, it's all very fascinating to me to think that our Creator created so many different species of animals...for our enjoyment, which in turn gives Him praise!

I highly recommend this film! The music, the information, and the scenery is amazing! But do take caution that it's not for those with slight water anxieties! As if Jaws wasn't enough!

Fun spending time w/ friends, new and old alike!

This past Saturday was a dear day for our good friend, RC, so she and I enjoyed getting out to spend "just you and me time" with one another! We did quite a bit of shopping, had a yummy lunch at Panera (I had their Baked Potato Soup and Strawberry Poppyseed Salad....it's made with fresh strawberries and blueberries, pineapple, Mandarin oranges, pecans and fat-free poppyseed dressing! I can't wait to re-create it here at home!), and then we went to see the movie, BabyMama, which I had been wanting to see for quite some time! It's hysterical! Yes, the humor at times would be slightly off-color for mixed company, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that the many previews hadn't shown all of the hysterical parts in the film, as I was afraid would have happened!

Then after the movie, we did a little more shopping, and then we went home to rest before regrouping together with the guys for a rematch of MadGab. Of course, Eric and I gave it our best, but we still 'let them win' in light of being gracious hosts! But before we 'let them win' we had homemade pizzas, and while we were cleaning up after dinner, I just had to run and grab the camera when I saw Rob sitting with the girls as they had convinced him to read them 'just one more' story! It was so sweet!

Aside from his allowing them to hang out the side windows of his Beemer (hairbows flappin' in the wind and all!), the girls love him dearly!

Then on Sunday we had some new friends over for dinner! But first, a little back-story....last Sunday at church, we sat behind the cutest family! Their 2nd to youngest son, Calvin, kept peeking around to give me a face that would melt my heart...and those huge, brown eyes! As if they weren't enough to melt a girl's heart...his older brother and sister have them too! Then baby Silas...he's too cute for his own good...but with huge, blue eyes! So as soon as church was finished, we introduced ourselves to them...only to learn that we had met them before! So this week we gladly had them come over to eat after church! And all I have to say is that those kids are just as beautiful and well-mannered on the inside as they are on the outside! It's been a treat to get to know them once more! Their kiddos each have us wrapped around their little fingers already!

Happy Anniversary, Ricci!

It's been a wonderful wedding anniversary already! Ricci and I have been married for twelve years now...and each year seems to be only be getting better and better!

Earlier this week, one of our dearest friends, RC, knew that it was getting close to our wedding anniversary, so she told me that she wanted to watch the girls to allow Eric and I to go out alone together. I told her that would be wonderful, but this week we were being so rushed to do this and that. Then we received a phone call that my Aunt Rachel had passed away. So we cancelled most of our weekend plans, thinking that we would travel to LA (lower Alabama) to attend the wake and funeral. Then after we sat down and really forced ourselves to make a decision, we decided that it would wiser to stay at home now and travel down there when there would be fewer people around the rest of the family....so we stayed here. Then sweet, dear RC called to ask what we had decided to do, and when I told her that we were going to stay at home, she said that she was coming to get the girls and have dinner with them. What a wonderful, thoughtful friend she is!

So when I told Eric, he made us some reservations, came home early, brought me some beautiful flowers, and we headed out to dinner to Canyon Grill. Once we were seated, we immediately cracked open one of 'my' favorite bottles of wine from our favorite winery that mom and dad left with us as a hostess gift last weekend....oooh, thanks again! Then as we were enjoying our rajas, french bread and wine while awaiting our supper, we had to laugh out loud when some of our best friends were seated next to us! Of course, we got our 'usuals'...my chicken with capers (extra capers), garlic green beans and yellow squash...and Eric's grilled chicken with roasted red-pepper sauce, grilled portobello mushrooms and fried okra. Then our favorite dessert...apple-pecan bread pudding with a yummy bourbon sauce. Oooh...it's all so good!

After a while, Kendall & Shelley and Eric & I grew tired of communicating from table to table, so we ended up sitting together and began planning the rest of our evening! So after making plans to get two of our other good friends to join us (who brought our girls with them), we were off to the world's largest single screen outdoor theater!

It was such a wonderful evening...the drive winding down the mountain gave us a glimpse here and there of a spectacular sunset, and the weather was magnificent with a gentle breeze that often brought a slight chill! It was a perfect June evening! Now this was the first time that I can ever recall having gone to a drive-in movie (Momma, you can correct me, if I'm wrong!), but we had a blast...and I was probably too excited to even 'get' the whole movie (which was Get Smart). But we pulled out camping chairs, set out some blankets on the ground for the girls, turned on the car radios, and had a blast! I can not wait to go back again!

Mountains, Rivers, Oceans and Canyons!

Waking up to some yucky weather (lovely, spring thunderstorms), we decided that we would take the risk of getting to the IMAX in time to see the preview of their newest film, Grand Canyon Adventure 3D. We had been given an opportunity to go and see a free screening of the movie which is now showing. We made it there...just in the nick of time, and it was simply amazing! The 3-D film takes one down the mighty Colorado River on a thrilling, whitewater rafting trip. And I highly recommend it to anyone! Now, there was a global-warming slant to it; however, I just write that off easily as 'only time will tell'....until we are being warned about our global-cooling situation!

The scenery was beautiful, and I can tell you that everyone in the theatre blinked (or even wiped!) the water away from their eyes...it is so real! It's just amazing to me how 3-D videography can trick one's brain! You must go and see it!

After the movie, we went back home to get ready for Aunt Jan and Uncle Eddie. We readied the house and then drove down to meet them at the Aquarium. We spent a fun day walking through the exhibits and checking out every plant and animal that there is!

Oh, how these girls love their Aunt Jan & Uncle Eddie!

Annie checkin' out the stingrays...yes, all but Macy and I were touching them!

After we had seen all that there was to see, we went back to our house and enjoyed a "quick" appetizer (Alal's 7-layer dip) and then headed out to Canyon Grill for dinner. Thankfully, we had a reservation so we didn't have to wait...and man; it was good! After enjoying some rajas and french bread with our Layer Cake Shiraz and Hogue Riesling, we all ate til we could eat no more. Jan and I enjoyed the chicken with capers (my "usual"); Uncle Eddie had the grilled salmon; Eric enjoyed the chicken with roasted red pepper sauce; and the girls always get the chicken with the creamy herb dip, garlic-mashed potatoes and lima beans...I know, I know...lima beans have never tasted as good as they do out there! And their water with the tiny bites of ice is enough to make me drive out there...just for their water...it's so highly purified...it's all sooo good!

Golden Compass - Please don't support it!

Most of you have already heard about or read about the movie Golden Compass. Not only is it blasphemous...well, enough said...basically, please don't go see it! To find out why...click the link below.
I do hope that this movie is not supported...at this time it's still "not yet rated."

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp