Lauries Kitchen

Saturday, July 28, 2007

the ring

Took Grace to finish up shopping for school clothes and of course that was an adventure the one pair of shorts she TOTALLY wanted was $50.00........no she didn't get them! JoGail is going to have to give her shopping tips.....like look at the price first!!!!!!!!!And they must be on sale! Grace did pick out a fashion ring at Cato's.....it's silver with a braided pattern in the middle....she asked for it, so I got it. I almost fell over when I realized that was what she wanted.

JoGail went with Coy to Tyler to get him some dress shoes.....bet that was an interesting shopping trip....He came home with what he went after, so it was at least successful.

Grace went over to Jordan B's. She got back from her grandparents in Kentucky. Both have grown so tall! Jordan is even skinnier than Grace! Jordan's little brother Addison is almost one and starting to walk and the little girl baby is due just about any day. They don't have a name picked out yet.

I'm anxious to see everyone from work, but I don't know that I am ready to begin working. I have some definite goals of things to work on this year and hope I can stay focused on them. Change is going to be all around me this year at work. Hopefully I can come home and unwind.

Tomorrow is wash day and finish the weeding day. I'm making lemon pepper talipia for lunch. Never tried it at home before. Everyone says it is easy. We'll see. made Paula Deen's red velvet cake this afternoon and Coy and JoGail said it turned out great. Grace wasn't a big fan of it. (She loves vanilla way more than chocolate, so it didn't surprise me.)

Friday, July 27, 2007

What a day!

The girls had the movie and lunch date with Karen from Coy's office . She thinks she's their grandmother and vice versa. She ended up taking them all the way to Tyler. JG said she talked all the way back because Ms. Karen gave her lots of sugar!

Oh JoGail, oh JoGail! She told her daddy last night the she wants to be a tattoo girl when she grows up. her daddy told her absolutely not! She wants to be the one drawing and putting the tattoos on..................we'll see

Watching her on the computer last night was interesting. She can do a recipe search on foodnetwork.com and read recipes If she finds one she doesn't think would be good, she says . yuck ! She can't sit still long enough to read a chapter book but she can read recipes! Wonder if there are any cookbooks on AR???????????

Gave up on the yard man ever coming to pull weeds, yeah right, like Coy would agree to that, so the girls and I weeded this evening. Of course I'll pay for it in the next few days, but it looks soooo much better!

WAHOO! I hear kudos are in order for Alex. Let me know how the awards meal goes!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Fort Worth Zoo

JoGail up close to the alligator exhibit. Look how tiny her head is in comparison to the alligator!
Outside the elephant exhibit. Doesn't Grace look thrilled to have her picture made?
There's still ap hone for JoGail to talk on at the Ft Worth Zoo!
The zoo was really great.....except fro all the strollers everywhere. Of course we went on half price day, and so did EVERYONE else, apparently. There were lots of animals and lots of walking. Grace's favorite was the snow tiger and we're not sure what was JG's favorite. Afterwards walking most of the morning and through midafternoon, we treated ourselves to Hoffbruar steak house. It was wonderful! I had a grilled piece of chicken (I know we were at a steakhouse...) the was soaked in Dr Pepper and then grilled with pepper jack cheese and sauteed mushrooms on top. It was so good!


Tomorrow I'm taking the van in to the dodge house to get it checked out........just to see how much work needs to be done on it! Cross your fingers!


I managed being outside ok. I sneezed ALOT and of course doped up before we went and about half way through. IT is so frustrating to think I have to go to all that trouble just to send the day outside with the girls and Coy. Guess it's just part of my life....



It was a good day!

Monday, July 23, 2007

Ode to the Scapbook Queen

Cleaning out my purse, I found several things--4 chasticks, a pencil, much much more and this poem. I didn't write it, but I think it fits Melissa well.....to a tee...

She is the queen of die cuts
The Empress of the crop
She rules with themes and gel pens
Making all her pages pop

Her treasure chests are filled
With brads, beads, and vellum
When family stops by
"Come See!" is what she tells them.

Ode to the Scarpbook Queen

Ode to the Scarpbook Queen


Well, we took some pictures of the family this morning for the football program. It's rare for me to be in the picture, and I so despise it. Coy and the girls look really good. I do too, just not as picture perfect as I would like.


The Bulldog painting behind us is awesome. It's unbelievable how like like it actually looks on the wall in the high school.


I'm headed back to the doctor this afternoon. More of the same old, except it seems to be in my lungs again. I'm taking breathing treatments like crazy right now. And with us going to the zoo on Wed (I'll be outside again all day), it just seems better to go ahead and get the meds.

JoGail and I wated Rory to win as the next foodnetwork star.....maybe next time!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

It came in the mail.....

Well, I got the letter...You know, the letter that tells me when to report back to work. . ..so I guess I'll go back. I have about two more weeks left. I am sort of ready to go back, just not quite ready.........there's going to be so many changes at work this year with IDEA changes. I'll do my best to roll with the punches.

Coy got up early o go buy the Harry Potter book. By the way, his glasses are sort of Harry Potter style. Grace can hardly wait until he finishes the book. JoGail and I have found a game to play together--Mad Caps. She keeps wanting to lay it again and the rial period is over, so I have to try find it to buy. It was fun. It's like a souped up version of bejeweled, except you get them to be in a diagonal row.

It's very cloudy here today.

MawMaw got to go home yesterday evening. We should have test results back Tuesday. Monday she has to go back in to get more testing done. Thanks to Toot (my aunt) for always taking her to her appointments, etc.

Beki shouldg get to go home today sometime. During the surgery they were ale to blast some of the kidney stones.

Deanna-will Thursday work to go see Jess?

Friday, July 20, 2007

Credit where credit is due......

Girls at Six Flags. No sure who the character is??????????
JoGail, John, Grace and Ben at the sign outside Six Flags over Texas
A curious and happy JoGail!!!!!!
Grace at the games.........



Missy took these picts, so....she gets all the credit. There are some good ones.

Glasses

Coy has to wear glasses! Coy has to wear glasses! (Sing to the tune of nananabooboo) We've known for a while, but we actually went and picked out a pair this morning. He only has a few more Fridays off before he gets back into the 5+ day work week.

Ended up not making either recipe because I dug around in the fridg and found leftover tomatoes, onions, lettuce, etc., so we had simple tacos instead to use of some of that stuff. Turned out good-that's all that matters.

Prayer requests:

MawMaw ( my grandmother)-is having intestinal problems. She is currently in the hospital and having tests run. Hopefully they will find something and be able to either fix it or control it.

My sister Beki had kidney stones that they think are attached to the bladder wall. She is supposed to have emergency surgery sometime this afternoon.

Rained again this afternoon. Helped cool the temperature down some. I'll try to post more later as I find out more.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Mexican Lasagna or Chipolte Tamale pie?

Recipe I am going to try.

Don't know whether to cook this or chipolte tamale pie tomorrow night. VOTE at the poll!

Mexican Lasagna

Original recipe yield:4 to 6 servings
PREP TIME
25 Min
COOK TIME
20 Min
READY IN
45 Min

INGREDIENTS
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (14 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
1 cup prepared salsa
1/2 cup shredded Colby cheese
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef, and stir in the taco seasoning and tomatoes. Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with half the tortillas. Spoon the beef mixture into the dish, then top with the remaining tortillas. Spread salsa over the tortillas and sprinkle with the cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.



Chipotle Tamale Pie


1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound, lean ground turkey
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, from can chipotle in adobo
1 cup grated Cheddar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8.5-ounce) package cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Grease an 8-inch baking dish with the butter and set it aside.
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, the onions, green peppers, and garlic and cook until the turkey is no longer pink and is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain off any excess fat and sprinkle the meat mixture with the cumin.
Add the beans, tomatoes, chiles and adobo sauce to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until heated through and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the cheese and cilantro.
Spread the turkey mixture in the prepared baking dish, pressing down on it with the back of a spoon to make an even, compact layer.
Combine the cornbread mix with milk and egg and bake according to the manufacturer's instructions. Spread the cornbread batter over the turkey mixture and bake until the cornbread is golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the tamale pie stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving

Did you know?

I'm watching Homemade with Sandra Lee on foodnetwork. Did you know there's a thing such as champagne extract???????

Fanily Fun

Well, Missy, Alex and the boys went to Six Flags with the girls and I. (Coy had to work to PAY for Six Flags). JG, John and I stayed most of the day while the others took a break in the afternoon. We rode pretty much any ride those two (under 48 inches) could ride. Then we all wen to Cheddar's for lunch (the spinach dip is AWESOME) and then we rested for awhile. Then we went back around 7:30 and saw Six Flags at night. Ben. John,JoGail and I watched the acrobat show Coobrila and winded up getting back at the hotel around 11:00. They (John (6) and JoGail (7)) didn't have a problem going to sleep last night.

Now we get back into the summer routine for a short while. The only things we have left on our summer 'agenda' are going to the Ft Worth Zoo (supposed to do the 25th) and trying to get up to see Leigh Ann and Trey.

Missy took pictures, so as soon as she gets a chance to get home, rest and send a few, I will post them.

Mom and Dad got back safely from their week in Colorado. That's a blessing!


Deanna do you still want to take me and the girls to go see Jess before I go back to work?

If you do let me know and we'll set a date!

Monday, July 16, 2007

Dental Shock

Well, we went to the dentist this moring for our usual 6 month cleaning for the girls. Here are the results:

Grace needs braces

JoGail has five new cavities AND if she doesn't quit sucking her thumb soon she will the owner of an expensive appliance that she will wear every night to force her to quit.

So, we are in dental shock today. Needless to say they will both be added to the dental inusrance when school starts. Good news, they are brushing well-Grace just doesn't have enough room for all her teeth to come in. JG's cavities are between her teeth and four are the size of pin heads. But they were addament that she not floss....go figure.......something about her having all her baby teeth still.

Big tv is still not fixed. They took it to the shop Friday but when I called this morning they still hadn't gotten to it. I'm tired os sitting on my bed to watch tv!

Big day at Six Flags tomo rrow...............should be interesting. I don't think I wil take my camera, maybe Miss will. I don't want to have to worry about it.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Guess what

Hey I figured out how to put a poll on my blog! That was th aonly question I could come up with.

Another Saturday

No rain today--but it did rain a half inch last evening and another half inch during the night.......Coy serviced his John Deere today...neat to see him doing it himself. He worked outside all day long! It;s been so quiet without the BIG tv. Coy and the girls let me sleep really late this morning. I must have been tired or still not completely well. I ended up going to get the week's (hopefully) groceries and then cooking a good supper. It's hard to beat shake and bake chicken around here!

Tomorrow the girls are baking for when Missy's family comes through. Grace is making her famous brownies and JoGail is making Uncle Alex her strawberry cheesecake. It's from the mix but she dumps everything and holds the mixer and everything. JoGail loves cooking. Right now she likes fro me to call her "Little Chef". She made a cheesecake and took it to MawMaw's. She's excited about "The Next Food Network Star" and seeing who will win tomorrow night. (She's picking Amy). She's pretty good about picking who will get sent home. She woke me up last night at eight and told me "Paula's Party is on! Wake up!'. I guess Coy watching it with her is just not he same as me watching it with her.

Tomorrow we are planning on going swimming at the Cain Center after lunch. Been awhile since we've been there.

For those who haven't checked this out, this is utterly hilarious........

www.the gypsyblogger.blogspot.com

It's my baby broher's blog from Afghanistan where is into security..I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Ususally he's very opinionated, but this is good......I can see it.....just can't figure out how in the world he got out of it.......wouldn't have happened if he had walked.............

Friday, July 13, 2007

Well, they came an d took the tv to the repair shop..............Coy finally got ALL the yard mowed, then it started raining again....haha........Been really quiet around here today.....currently JG has on her Barbie dress up clothes and her black patent winter dress shoes.....my folks are supposed to return from their camping trip to Colorado I think Monday.....hopefully we'll get to go to Six Flags Tuesday with Missy, Alex, and the boys (maybe it won't rain)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Doctor appointment

Well, I went to see Dr Marple in Dallas this morning. My nose, I know this is gross, but it is a fact of life for me, doesn't look as good as it did in April. He thinks it is because of all the mold in the air from all the rain. So, I am back on the crazy fungus meds. I asked him about just treating the symptoms and not the cause and he went into the whole spill about how we are treating the inflammation in my sinuses, which is comparable to someone who has asthma. You never really know why you get asthma, he said. You just know how to treat it. Anyways, I go back in six weeks.

TV still has red and green lines all through it. Hopefully the tv repair people can come out tomorrow and fix that.

Went and saw Harry Potter. We enjoyed it, although Coy said they cut out alot of details from the books.JG and I were actually crying as we saw this one. Hard to explain. It was good though. Definitely not the witch and spell type movies and books everyone thought it was about. There's alot more to it and I can honestly say my ten year old understands that.

Going on to bed. Took forever for me to fall asleep last night. I read three whole entire magazines and refused to get up!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

We're BACK!





We returned this afternoon from visiting my grandmother in Ragley, LA. Hard to believe four generations have taken friends down there! She cooked an awesome roast. The gravy was perfect on top of the rice. It was soooooo good. We slept later than we intended to this morning-who doesn't in a nice cool room with no hint of daylight at 10:00 in the morning??


Grace took her friend Lindsey with us. They explored in the woods (with the walkie talkies) and discovered a clubhouse. They really enjoyed seeing Miller's puppies and donkeys!


Met TAC for lunch yesterday. Hard to believe he's 38 today! Happy Birthday, TAC!


Grace said the mosquitoes down there were as big as dragon flies.....take lots off OFF with you when you go, Missy.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

AR prizes arrived today. Grace got her a new laptop and JG got a gameboy advance. Hard for Coy and I to believe our ten year old has her own laptop, with built in parental controls of course! JG is tickled pink over her new gameboy. Pretty quiet around here right now.

Coy fixed his computer. WAHOO! No more trips to Tyler to simply drop off or pick up the computer.

Still haven't heard from SONY about the tv. We watch it for awhile until we all get aheadache, then we retreat to another place.

Finished my second Potluck Club book. Those books are so good! I get totally wrapped up in them. I want to try some of the recipes, too.

Sun has shone birghtly here today. Got up to over 90 degrees. Stillneed another day or so to dry out enough to begin mowing.

Tomorrow we begin packing for our trip to Ragley. Always interesting when we visit down there. Hope it doesn't rain the whole time so the girls can get out and go exploring.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Vacation Day 4- HOME

Well, we made it in last night (Thurs) around 3:30. Traveled 873 miles and had 18 hours adn 10 mins family qaulity time in the car. Overall, it was a great vacation. It fit us well.

The girls and I are headed to Lousiana to MawMaw's the first part of next week. Coy is headed back to work to get the budget finished and things ready for the next board meeting.

Friday--Best Buy called and they said they have fixed the computer. So we went to pick it up. Got home and still doesn't work. Guess Coy will be taking it back again tomorrow. Big TV is not focusing, either. (at least it started when HE was watching it, not me). So we're trying to figure that out,too. Always something.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Vacation Day Three


We traveled the TExas Independence Trail today and all I can say is WOW. It rained most of the time we were in the car. Goliad is still the most haunting place, even in the rain. After Goliad we came over to the Battleship TExas and SanJacinto monument. Grace really enjoyed the battleship. JG wasn't crazy about climbing all the stairs. We ended the night eating at Hooters and of course swimming at the hotel's indoor pool. Tomorrow we are headed home and will try to stop at the Sam Houston museum in Huntsvile.


We have managed to eat out 1

meal a day throughout the vacation. WA HOOO!


Things I tried that have worked:


putting the food stuff, pb & J, bread, pop tarts, snack bars in a tub -keeps it all nice and neat. For kelly we save the ind packets all throughout the year so I don't hav to worry about toting an ice chest.


Having one dirty clothes bag for each night. Now we're not hauling dirty clothes back and forth to the car.


Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Vacation Day 2

We oured teh capital. Our tour guide was a lady from East Africa. Amazed both Coy and I how many foreigners (or foreigner looking) people were at the capital. Poured down rain the rest of the time in Austin, so we didn't get to do the UT thing. We went on to San Antonio and toured the Alamo-this time actually getting in this time. Did you know there's an unwritten rule that no building can cast a shadow on the Alamo? One of the very protective DAR ladies was telling Coy adn I about some hotel that thought they could just do whatever. Needless to say, they were run off and another hotel is building there. There was supposed to be a glass covering on the sidewalk showing actual things they dug up while excavating the Alamo. We never found that, though. We did find the actual bullet (I think it may be mullet) holes, though.

JG said her favorite part of yesterday was the Alamo. She said she learned about the bullets and cannon balls. Grace liked the Alamo too. I think it's finally sinking in that the TExans lost the Alamo battle. At one point she commented that the Alamo and Goliad just really hacked the Texans off. I told her that yep, that was basically it.

Ate supper at John's Big Red Barn in San Antonio. As usual, it was good.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Something I forgot.....

Coy said the best thing about today was that I didn't fall asleep in the car on the way here !

Vacation Day 1

JoGail said her favorite thing was shopping. After getting her some clothes at the GAP, she informed her daddy it was time for some accessory shopping.........And he thought he was done with her!

Grace thought the best thing about today was riding in the car so she could read and listen to her MP3 layer without JG bothering her.

JG got a t-shirt that says "Texas cheerleaders rock!"

Believe it or not, JG is pretty good at getting things on sale......wahoo!

Grace looks at the price last, and I do mean LAST.

JG was trying on some pants and said,"oops, I'm pulling my hanes down!" haha

I live an interesting life.....I LOVE IT!

Vacation Day 1

Well, we made it to Austin. Had to stop and shop along the way. Ate ar Serrano's--that was good! JG said her favorite thing was shopping. I know Grace felt otherwise. She's at such an awkward size and age-she wants to be big, but really isn't. ooked at abercombie and Fitch stuff. She decided the shirts are a little too thin. :) Finally found some stuff for her at, of all places, JC Penney's. At least I can return them if I need to.

Tomorrow we are touring the capital, downtown, and UT. Not sure where we are headed after that.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Brownie Crackles

Made these and JG declared them the best cookies ever. Had the whole bunch baked in 25 mins thanks to my double ovens!.........got the recipe from allrecipes.com


Brownie Crackles

1 (19.8 oz) packae fudge brownie mix
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup veg oil
1 cup semisweet choc chips
powdered sugar


Put some powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients together, saving the chip until last. Stir them in by hand. Drop by teaspoonful into the powdered sugar. Roll to coat. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 8-10 mins. Let cookies cool.