Budding Artist

Have I mentioned that Ashley is a budding artist?  At Christmas, Nana & Papa gave her lots of new art supplies and paint, which have kept her very busy.

Several years ago, I bought art canvases with the plan for my children to create their own art for our playroom walls. Needless to say, it was one of my many crafty ideas that never actually happened.  I remembered these art canvases last week and gave one to Ashley.  She was soooo excited!  At first, she looked at the canvas to decide what to draw.  We looked through a few art books for inspiration and she finally settled on a picture of flowers.  

Immediately she set to work on a masterpiece.  We put it on Laurie's little art easel in front of the breakfast room windows (for the natural light) and she sat for hours painting.  At some point, she decided she was painting for her teacher as a Valentine's Day gift.  

We were very impressed with the completed painting.

It reads, "Your My Teacher" & her name

 Ashley took it to school on Valentine's Day for her teacher.  She loved it!  She told Ashley her painting will hang in the classroom because it is so bright, colorful, and cheerful.

The next day Ashley started on a new painting, something completely different.  It is in the style of a Jackson Pollock, only with brighter colors.  It is unfinished, so no pictures yet.

At the end of the month, Ashley and I have tickets to a special exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston with Karen and Emerson. A girls afternoon out. 

The exhibit is - Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from National Gallery of Art.  I am thrilled to show her more examples of my favorite period of art.  But I'm sure we will cruise through the galleries of some of Ashley's favorites also - Remington, Picasso and moderns, like Pollock.

Geocaching

Brian introduced the kids to Geocaching, a form of high-tech treasure hunting, last month.  According to the Geocaching website, "the basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online."  They report over 1.3 Million active geocaches around the world.  Just in our neighborhood alone, there are over 2 dozen hidden.  

Last weekend, I got to tag along with Brian and the kids on a geocaching hunt.  Brian bought the geocache app on his phone, so they give us a basic location to start looking for one.  Once you get close, you start reading the clues to figure out where to look.  Some give more "hints" than others and a few even have pictures for the ultimate hint of what you are searching for.  

It was fun, but kinda crazy/frustrating.  First, you have no idea what you are looking for or exactly where to look for a hidden object.  I found myself not wanting to give up when I couldn't find one.  But when we did find one, it was great.  

Can you spot the geocache in the picture?


This is a fun family activity.  I can't wait to join in on more geocaching.

iPhones in stores

I found these pictures and several others like it on my iPhone today.  From the shoe, I can tell the culprit is Laurie.  The funny part is that  I don't even remember handing her my phone in Hobby Lobby that day.

I have lots of pictures of items in the grocery store, of me shopping, and anything else she likes from the cart.

Course, she was probably just learning from my example.  I take pictures of lots of things in stores.  Here are a few others found on my iPhone from the same day.

I thought Ashley would love these

Aren't these cute?

Don't forget about fabric.  I have LOTS of pictures of fabric!

Laurie fell in love with these fabrics

I took a picture of 8 rows of bolts so Ashley could find something she liked.

 I probably should create a whole folder on my camera of pictures Birdie takes in stores.  See the world from her perspective.

Cute As A Button

For Valentine's Day, the preschool kids were directed to sign their own valentine's and address them to their classmates.  Perfect.  Once my kids could write their name or the letter to their first name, they have always addressed their own cards.  

Laurie chose cute Tinkerbell valentine's at Target and we came home to address them.  Big problem.  The space to sign her name was extremely small.  She might be great at writing LAURIE, but not that small.  After lots of frustration and some tears, we gave up on Tinkerbell. Did I mention this was the day before her class valentine's were due? So, I hit the internet to find new valentine's with space big enough for my Birdie to sign.  

We found an adorable valentine, but it printed 8 to a page and the to/from was on the same line, so too small.  Not to be deterred, I downloaded the valentine and "fixed" the bottom so she could sign her name.  We printed them out 4 to a page to give her even more room.  I got her started signing and glueing buttons as fast as possible.  

It reads, "YOU ARE CUTE AS A BUTTON! Happy Valentine's Day."  And it has a button glued at the top.

She managed to finish up the next morning before school.  Whew!  Crisis adverted.  And she had a really cute "homemade" valentine for her friends.  Happy Valentine's Day.

Cub Scouts Food Drive

This morning Daniel and I headed to another section of the neighborhood with his cub scout den to collect food for their canned food drive.  In cooperation with the Souper Bowl of Caring, our local Cub Scout Pack sent the boys out last weekend to blanket our neighborhood with flyers.  Today, we went to pick up any food left on porches for us.  With the recent crazy cold weather and cancelled school, most people didn't seem to remember about the canned food drive.  Thankfully, one of the parents in our group suggested letting the boys knock on doors to directly ask for food donations.  

It was a great idea because of the doors that were opened, 99% of them gave at least 1 can with most giving several.  We even had quite a few who put together a bag of items for the boys. The scouts loved running up and down the streets knocking (banging) on doors and throwing cans in the back of a dad's pick up truck.  

All in all, even the cold weather (30's) couldn't stop these boys from having a great time.  Daniel's den donated more than 250 lbs of food to the Sacred Heart Food Pantry this morning.

44th Wedding Anniversary Dinner Party

Ashley was responsible for making the table beautiful

To celebrate my parent's 44th wedding anniversary, Brian and I hosted the family for a dinner party.  Our first anniversary dinner party was for their 40th and the menu consisted of dishes from Brian's Brennan's of Houston Cookbook.  You can see pictures of that dinner party here and on Shelly's blog.

This year, Brian selected the menu based on recipes from the Brennan's cookbook and one bought in Big Bend last year, called A Cowboy in the Kitchen.  

Bryan came over early to help Brian get everything cooked.  They work very well together and had each dish prepared on time!  This was a first for them.  

 I will apologize now for the use of paper and styrofoam plates in the pictures of the appetizers. I caught lots of grief for serving such wonderful appetizers on paper.  I just wasn't thinking ahead.  And, we used my cute Parisian Pottery Barn plates for dessert and then didn't get any pictures of them.  Next time I'll use the cute plates for appetizers and save the paper for dessert.

Crab Cakes with Lemon Beurre Blanc

 Cajun Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Salmon and Shrimp Tostada in Salsa Verde

 There was not a consensus on which appetizer was the best.  Brian's crab cakes are always a favorite for me, but I admit I ate two of the tostadas.  They were amazing!  While others thought the enchiladas were their absolute favorite.  We did agree that next time we get together for dinner, he could just make the Tostadas and Enchiladas for the main course.  They were that delicious and filling.

After eating all of those appetizers and drinking some great wine (Thanks again Dad for bringing the CakeBread Cab), we took a "breather" to watch a few slideshows on the tv.  The first were pictures from our family 2010 Big Bend trip.  Then as a group, we all sat down to view the slideshow Leah, Shelly & I put together for my parent's 40th wedding anniversary in 2007.  The kids had a great time seeing all the old pictures of Nana and Papa growing up, getting married, and raising us kids.  Their favorite part was getting to the point when all the grandkids started showing up in the pictures.

After the 40th Anniversary slideshow we watched our family's 2009 Big Bend trip, and then the pictures from our 2007 family cruise.  Birdie & Alex loved that one since they were only 6 & 8 months old in the pictures.

Watching the slide shows

Bryan, Brian & Leah

Shelly with baby Paige

Dad & Mom loved reliving their 40th Anniversary slide show

The kids loved watching the slide shows

I've been asked what we fed the seven kids.  I feel very wrong to admit that in the midst of all this fine food, we fed them corn-dogs.  Most of them tasted appetizers, but we fed them dinner quickly at the kitchen table before the adults ate.  We have learned through experience that we enjoy a leisurely dinner more if we get them fed and back upstairs to play before we sit down.

As we began dinner

Just in case we hadn't eaten enough already, we were served the main course.

Potato-Crusted Fish Lyonnaise, CrispyRibs w/ Jalapeno Jelly & Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Crab Bisque

We were all so stuffed by the time we ate our main course.  I polished off my Bisque, it was AMAZING!  This was the second dinner party Brian has served the Crab Bisque and I wish I could get him to make it once a week.  I love it!  But I did not eat much of anything else on my plate because I was too full. When I ate my Fish and Ribs the next day the fish was so flavorful with the well seasoned potato crust.  And the sweet spice of the jalapeno jelly along with the slow cooking of the ribs made them memorable.  Brian must make it all again, just not all in the same night.

Even though we were beyond stuffed, our dinner did include dessert.  Shelly brought a family favorite, Lemon Cheese Bars and I made a little contribution by making Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes from KraftRecipes.  We didn't get a picture of either, so I borrowed this one from KraftRecipes.

Molten Chocolate Cake

The chocolate cakes were so simple - Oops.  I shouldn't tell you that because they look and taste very impressive.

Happy 44th Anniversary Mom & Dad.

Thank you for always being a loving example to your children and grandchildren.