We Had R.A.I.N.!!!!

After a loooong dry spell, we finally received some much needed rain Tuesday. It started off nice and light......

then it turned dark and rained and rained....

and poured and poured.

It was so nice! It smelled so good. Our plants really enjoyed it!! The grass is greener. Unfortunately, so are the weeds!

Tuesday I treated us to cupcakes. I tried the Red Velvet... very, very good.

And I picked up Double Chocolate for my Papa. His birthday was Wednesday.

My nephew is here with us for a week. It's fun to have a boy in the house. I made Chicken Fried Steak last night with mashed potatoes and gravy and cream corn. It was soooo good!!!

Mom came over today and made Chicken and Dumplings. Ooooohhhh, delicious! It was supposed to be for dinner tonight but I think we all pretty much wiped it out!

Time is Flying....

I haven't had time to blog much lately. We haven't been doing much really, just staying so busy with everyday life. Sometimes it just seems so non-stop rushing! At the end of most days I just feel exhausted, like I seriously can't even take another step. I'm sure it doesn't help that my days usually end around 2a.m. and start around 8 a.m.

Anyway.... I have found something new to do that I really, really like.....

GRILL!!!!!!

Papa Bear asked me to grill one night while he was driving home from Austin. I was nervous at first, but then took a quick liking to it! I really had fun!!! And it came out sooooo good!!

One night when I was driving home Scotty McCreedy's single came on the radio and I was so excited!! I was/am a HUGE fan of his from the beginning of American Idol. I voted for Scotty each and every week!!

One evening after Papa grilled fish Charlie hopped up in CC's seat. I think he smelled how great everything smelled and was ready to join in!

Charlie looks so over getting his picture taken. Toby just looks cute!

While I was walking the other morning I passed this house on our street. Emil saw the sheriff there foreclosing on the house. The house had been empty for some time but to see such personal things thrown on the drive way is just sad. There was stuffed animals, sheets, toys, a playpen, fragments of someones life. It really puts things in perspective and helps you to remember no matter how bad things may seem or how hard times may be there is always someone who is worse off and is struggling more.

We have been going to Austin...lots...but thankful to be able to go! CC loads up her movies.....

And Lena rocks out to her music! She reminds me so much of myself at that age. I loved rock music too and would put it on late at night real low so Mom wouldn't hear it. My favorite radio station was called K-Rok on an A.M. channel. Their motto was "If we're too loud, you're too old!" Ha!!! I guess I'm old now because I often have to tell Lena to either unplug or turn it down! (Lena I know you are going to kill me for posting this picture, especially after you warned me very sternly about not posting it. I just want to remember you in this moment like this, since so much of your time is spent just. like. this.)

I captured this pretty sky one evening while watering my roses and two crepe trees. It is just beautiful....

And tonight Papa Bear tried out a new recipe for some Red Snapper I bought. Oh! My! Word!! It was beyond delicious!!! The recipe can be found here.

And I also made the Cappicino Brownies from the mix I found at Target. Very, very good!!

We also received Lena's final report card today. She passed with straight A's for the year. Not bad considering she came into this school in the middle of the year and worked hard to make up for the work she missed!! I am so proud of her. I think a date to Le Madeleine and Barnes and Noble is in order..soon! I am so proud of you LenLen. I know some days it was overwhelming and frustrating but you did it!! I knew you could!! Now, finally, you can just take it easy the rest of the summer. You definitely deserve it!! I love you!

July Weekend

I woke up this morning and went to Target to get the ingredients to make our newly favorite breakfast...the breakfast ring. While it was baking and we were watching the women's World Cup, Mom came over. We all ate breakfast together, then us girls set out to drive some back roads.

We found this beautiful neighborhood of estates all with land at least five acres. It was perfect!! One piece of land even had this windmill on it! I love windmills, there is just something very nostalgic about them. I had to drive up and take a picture. I kept looking out for spiders and snakes.

As we were leaving the neighborhood there was a beautiful display of flowers, bushes and trees. I loved the crepe myrtles. The little squirrel that comes in our backyard and we have named Billy has killed five of my crepes so far. When we came home today we saw he completely uprooted another. CC put it in a pot for me.

Anyway, I was never a fan of the pink crepe. I liked the white (my favorite) and the red. After seeing these, I think I have a new appreciation for the pink crepe myrtle.

I'm not sure what the name of this bush is but I LOVE it... I want one or two so bad in front of my house. I think it's just perfect!!!

The entire area is just so beautiful and peaceful. It's so secluded and private. I love it!! It seems like you are so far out in the country when you are here but in reality it's only about 15 minutes away from town.

We drove all the way down the main stretch of road and then turned on the highway that comes to the "T." We took a right and drove more. We ended up in a small town, Honey Creek, then Spring Branch. It was so fun!! I love going on little adventures like this. On our way back home we stopped by this fruit/veggie stand on the side of the road near that estate neighborhood.

He had such delicious looking tomatoes, peaches and oranges. He even had plants for sale.

We ended up buying tomatoes and peaches. Then, Papa Bear and I went back later and bought some small, red potatoes, a watermelon and oranges. EVERYTHING was delicious!

I made patties in the skillet, made a little fresh salad and chopped lettuce and tomatoes for the burgers.

I think homemade fries are THE BEST!!!

This evening I also tried my first attempt at making shortbread....Chocolate Covered Shortbread. It was simple and easy and oh, so good! But with one cup of butter I won't be making this too often!

Yesterday CC was trying to build a house of cards. I must say she did pretty well!


My sister and her family came and stayed with us Tuesday. Luigi had to sleep on the floor in Lena's room with her and CC. He's not used to sleeping on the floor. He has his whole 3/4 of CC's bed. He was so tired on Wednesday after everyone left. He jumped on CC's bed, laid his head on a pillow and went to sleep. It was Lights Out for him....he was snoring so loud!

On the days when I go to Austin, like this past Thursday, this is usually the traffic I am greeted with. On this particular day it took me 35 minutes to get from this spot where I am taking the photo to past that overhead on the highway. It was ridiculous!

Yesterday evening my sweet Papa Bear took us girls out to dinner. He had been wanting seafood and all the main seafood restaurants had major waiting lists, so I suggested we go to the Mexican Seafood place near our house. Great idea!! It was delicious!

After dinner we drove around the neighborhood next to the restaurant. We love this neighborhood and always say when we do move to a bigger house it will be here. It's just perfect! Seriously, really perfect!

There were deer everywhere, mama deer, bucks, fawns, it was so cute. They just roam up in people's yards and eat. Some yards had eight or so little babies just relaxing. It was so sweet to see.

This is really how dark it was. You had to drive so slow so you wouldn't have to stop fast in case one ran in front of your car.

Lightened....

We drove Mom through there today after we all ate dinner. We saw one house that had about ten or more deer in the front yard. The homeowner was hand feeding the deer. They just walked up and ate right out of his hand. I was sooooo jealous! I want that one day!

It's hard to believe we are almost in the middle of July!! Time is really flying! We are in such a drought I wish we could just get some rain!! It's so sad to see even drought resistant plants dying! I always look at weather.com to see our ten day forecast and it always tells me no chance of rain. I should just give up, but I guess a girl can dream!

Breakfast Ring, BBQ & A Surprise!

I must say July has started off great! Thursday the girls and I went to Austin and we rested on Friday. Saturday and Sunday I really can't remember much except cleaning the house, cooking and relaxing. CC found a wonderful recipe for brownies that we all fell in love with. Mom thought it was a brownie mix.
Mr.Billy (the squirrel) has been back to visit.

I love this picture. It shows how mischievous he really is. He is into everything!!

Monday morning I wanted to try my hand at making a Breakfast Ring. I totally cannot take credit for this recipe. I found it here.
You need a can of biscuits, cheese, breakfast sausage and 6 eggs.

First, cut the biscuits horizontally. It's not as hard as I thought it would be.

Layer half of the halves in a well greased bundt pan. Make sure the sides are greased as well and the biscuits are over-lapping.

Your first layer is your browned and drained breakfast sausage.

Mix 6 large eggs with salt and pepper to taste and pour over the sausage.

The original recipe (from the blog) says to use a pound of cheese. I used a half pound and I think a little more would have been better.

Layer the rest of the biscuit halves over the mixture. Again, be sure to have them overlapping.

Let it bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. Don't worry, the biscuits don't burn. I was really thinking they would have. Once I took the breakfast ring out I buttered the tops.

It was delicious!! My Papa Bear said it was better than breakfast pizza, better than tacos, better than anything! He loved it!! CC asked for seconds. That NEVER happens!!

There were no leftovers! It was so good! I plan to make this again, soon. The only thing I might change is to add some mushrooms.

Monday we lounged around a bit just like Charlie is doing here.

After lunch Papa Bear treated us to Starbucks then we drove some back country roads and just enjoyed spending time together as a family.

The girls and I went to visit Mom for a while Monday afternoon. When we got home Papa Bear was grilling out ribs, Italian sausage and corn.

DELICIOUS!!!

Tuesday my sister called and asked me what we were doing. She surprised us by telling me they were coming up for a visit. I was so super excited to say the least!!

My sister and I went to H-E-B to grab some charcoal and things we needed to grill out and guess who we saw shopping.....

DEVIN BROWN

from the San Antonio Spurs. For the most part everyone left him alone. The store manager went over and personally bagged his groceries.... ha!

After we ate a late dinner Emil, Ernie, Mel and the boys watched "Dinner for Schmucks" while CC, Stacy and I went in my room and looked at my quilt top to see what we could do with it. We had so much fun!! So much fun in fact that I forgot to take too many pictures. Stacy wouldn't let me post them anyway even if I had!

Emil and Sean and Ethan played cards til 3 in the morning. Ethan was teaching Papa Bear how to play "31".

They left early this morning. It was just too quick of a visit. I miss them already and Emil keeps saying he misses his boys. I forsee lots of get togethers in the future....at least I hope I do!!

Today we didn't do too much. I went to the mall with my Papa Bear and made quesadillas for dinner. We stayed up super late last night and I am still tired so I am heading to bed now! I will be posting the brownie recipe sometime tomorrow.