Spring Break=New Recipes

This recipe was a hit! I love having time off from school to enjoy some of my other passions. I love to be in the kitchen when I am not rushed to get dinner on the table during the work week. I had some egg roll wrappers left over from another recipe I made recently, and I needed to use them up quickly! I found the recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Egg Rolls, on Pinterest of course!

They were very quick and simple to make, and they were a hit with the hubs and youngest daughter. I didn't add bacon to mine, simply because I didn't have any on hand-this recipe would be so easy to customize to your family's taste.

I even have a couple left over from dinner last night, I think they'll become my "do they pass the warm-up-for-leftovers challenge?" today...

Another new recipe I tried a couple of days ago was this Buttery Pound Cake. Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a sweet tooth---oh my! this was sweet, buttery, and perfect!

It is disappearing way too fast! It's a good thing I have several more recipes I want to try this week, cupcakes included-because just looking at these photos makes me want to go slice up another piece of that cake right now. Happy Spring Break!

....Spring Fever!

...little things that make me happy:

...a little Easter/Spring decor around the house
...the sunny, warm, fresh air

...looking forward to summer time!

...they are crazy about him!

Here's proof that G and M love, love, love their uncle KK to come visit.

They always ask him to play in G's room, away from the rest of us--they want his undivided attention.

They love to ham it up and act silly!

Not sure what they are doing here, or why they have a blanket over Caleb's head. But, they are having a blast.

Tickle, tickle....giggle, giggle....

And when they do settle down, they make a fine looking trio!

...the games we play

High on G's list of things to do when Nienie came for Spring Break was playing games. He is becoming interested in learning the rules for all kinds-board games, cards, dominoes, etc. We played "Hungry Caterpillar"-a matching game-and he beat me every time! He kept telling me, "Nienie, I'm just too smart, aren't I?" When playing dominoes it amazed me that he was really taking his time to think his moves through, using real strategy. (momma says that's because of daddy-the mathematician)

"Don't Break the Ice" was something we could play and include Morgan. And, boy did he like to hammer! He is so proud of himself. Let it be known that I didn't win any of those games, either! It was so much fun watching both of the boys learn how to wait their turn and follow the rules of the game (most of the time, anyways...).

G, always with a watchful eye! He made sure Morgan and I followed the rules!!! No getting anything past that lil' fellow:)

Then G wanted my camera to take pictures. The last few times we have been together he has wanted to try. At first he just started "clicking" randomly and got crazy, blurry, cut off pics. But lately, I've been having him slow down and wait to snap the pic until it is in focus. He's doing a pretty good job....

Soooo, he took the pics of my hands getting the game ready. Pretty good, huh? Then, he said, "Smile, Nienie." Never mind that I let my hair dry curly (making getting ready in the morning take less time and making more time for playing!) and have no makeup on---he doesn't care!

Then, M wanted in the picture.
Oh my, just look at those blue eyes! I love thesse boys like crazy!

...off to a great start!

Spring Break started off great! I spent a few days with the kids in Carrollton. High on the boy's list was taking me to watch them play Putt-Putt. They were so, so cute and acted so grown up! They had already been a couple of times with dad, so they were pros by the time they took me. Who knew we would have to watch out for elephants!

It was a fun course with a little island and wild animals everywhere. It was a bit more crowded than usual since it was the first Saturday of Spring Break. So, the boys had to wait their turn on a couple of holes, but they didn't seem to mind.

They are ready to go!

Can you tell they were super excited to get started!?! G's expression just cracks me up.

Here we go, he's looking a bit more serious now.

Focus!!! Eye on the ball...
WOW, where did it go?

Little M is ready to show how it is done.

Sometimes we need a little help from Dad.

Beware of long neck giraffes!

And, cougars (I guess that's what it is).

Off to the next hole.

Looks like he's pretty proud of himself.

All done!

Our Trip to the Aquarium

Can you see that Morgan is excited that we are on our way to see the fishies at the Aquarium? Actually, he made this face when I asked him to "smile for Neenie". Since the weather was so cool on Tuesday we decided to go to the Aquarium instead of the Zoo. (Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't like to be even the least bit cold, especially when it is windy outside.) Even the "big" kids were excited about going. We all loaded up and headed to Jenks. The kids have such a fun time when they are all together, I love to just sit and watch them interact with each other--they're so funny--I just love my kids!!!
Don't they look like they are having fun? We were still laughing after Kelsey and Jen "climbed" over the back seat from the rear of the car to get in. With the two car seats and the head rests, they couldn't get in any other way. Jen was already getting concerned about how they were going to climb out of the car in the middle of the parking lot without anyone seeing them. Oh well......

Our friendly driver, Jamie. Does she look like she's having fun?

The Aquarium was very crowded, guess we should have expected it to be over Spring Break, huh? We still had a lot of fun and the little ones loved seeing all of the exhibits.

Caleb, Grayson, Jen and Morgan...

Morgan and Kelsey, viewing up close!

Grayson and the stingrays...

Aunt Sissy and Morgan.....

It was so dark inside it was difficult to get very many good pictures, but I did get enough to document our trip!

Grayson had a great time! I guess we wore him out!

In honor of.....

Administrative Professional's Day

(04-15-09)

In honor of Administrative Professional's Day, my boss and his sweet wife, Christy, brought these flowers to me at work; along with a card and a gift certificate for Chili's. Isn't the arrangement pretty? Even though Christy called me later in the day to say there was a big "goof-up"---it really wasn't Administrative Professional's Day today after all---it's not until next week! Oh well, better earlier than late, right? We got quite the giggle out of that. I didn't mind at all, I really appreciated the gesture.

Azalea Time

In Bloom

(04-14-09)

Finally, some blooms opening up! This certainly won't be the most spectacular season for my one lone azalea bush---but at least it's adding some color around my front door. With the freezing spells and high winds we experienced the last couple of weeks, I wasn't sure any of the buds would even survive. I covered it up the nights we were predicted to have freezing temperatures---I guess it really does help. I'll be enjoying while it lasts!!!