Next Stop: Heart of Texas

After Christmas celebrations in Odessa, Daniel and I had to return home for work obligations. However, Abigail and Cooper were able to stay behind to spend a week with my parents, better known as Gran and Grandad. 

They spent a few evenings with my second parents Robbie and Sherman and their youngest son Blake. Abigail has been telling me all about how much fun Blake was. So, Blake, if you're reading this, you should come for a visit sometime. Your new girlfriend would love to have you over for a playdate!

There was also some sort of incident with Cooper being locked in my parents' bedroom and Abigail having to crawl through the bedroom window from the backyard to unlock the door and free him. 

I think the most fun was had with my cousin Casey's girls, Ally and Ashley. Abigail had so much fun with them that she has been keeping their pictures on her nightstand in her room and talking about them on a daily basis. Hopefully, the four of them didn't cause too much damage to Gran's house in the midst of their fun.

I'm sure there were few rules and not enough attention paid to bedtimes, but I'm learning that a week of that here and there won't do too much damage.

From what I've heard, they had a blast. That was evidenced by the tears and pleas to not have to come home when I met them in Brady last week for Gran and KellyAnn to return them to me. 

Aside from them not wanting to come home, we had a nice daytrip to Brady. It's a small but quaint town in the center of Texas, about 2-3 hours from me and the same from my parents. 

We enjoyed a nice lunch of salads and baked potatoes at a cute restaurant and then visited the town square's shops, pausing to sit a while in the rockers...  

... and grab a bite of German Chocolate Cake, which was oh, so yummy!

The town's square is centered around the county courthouse, which was built in 1900, and the source of the kids' delight all day. They just knew it was a castle...

All in all, it was a fun week for the kids and a nice daytrip for all of us. And, as if I hadn't expected it, the kids were worn out...

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The Concert With No Singing

I've been waiting to post these images until I could upload video from my camcorder, but I've finally decided that the camcorder is inoperable and the video can not be retrieved. Thus, we're stuck with the still images. Unfortuntely, these don't capture the humor of the night, but it's the only option.

Cooper's school, a church pre-school in Hutto, TX, presented a Christmas program one evening in December. We first learned of the event when Cooper's teacher sent home a list of songs they were to perform with a request that we practice with him. My first reaction was to laugh. I'm so proud of my kids, but I'm realistic and know they have limitations, and the reality is that Cooper is just 2. He's not about to put on a concert for a sanctuary full of people. Then, I second-guessed myself. I decided that maybe Cooper was learning something at school and he would surprise us. I followed the teacher's request and tried to prepare him for the performance. 

Over the next few weeks, I frequently prodded Cooper to sing with us. We tried Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas along with the various other Christmas songs Abigail was constantly singing. Every time, we heard the same response from Cooper. "NO!" If you asked again, he yelled, "NO! NO! NO! NO!" while shaking his head back and forth.

So, when the night of the "performance" came, I wasn't expecting too much from my cute but non-musically interested youngest child. And, he delivered on those expectations. 

 

He was the first one to enter the stage, and I was proud that he went to his place as instructed. There were a few kids who insisted on having their mothers on stage with them, or they weren't about to stand up there in front of everyone.

The class sang three songs and Cooper (far left), as expected, never uttered a word. However, when they were given a set of bells to play as they sang Jingle Bells, Cooper shook those bells through the entire tune. He was a jingling fool! 

We were so proud of Cooper, and Abigail, especially, was excited to point out to everyone nearby which one was her brother. 

You Better Clean Your Plate, Kid. There's Starving Kids in Ethiopia!

Daniel found this in the Austin newspaper last week and brought it to me to share with you guys. Unfortunately, he had crumpled it up in his pocket, so it's not completely legible. If you can't read it, it's an ad for an all you can eat buffet at an Ethiopian restaurant. Hopefully you can see the same humor we saw. 

You Can't Catch Me, I'm the Gingerbread Man

We took on a new task this Christmas with a gingerbread house. It sounded like a fun activity for me and Abigail... That's right. It "sounded" like a fun activity. 

It was Christmas Day when we finally had the time to get to the house. I know, there's nothing like waiting until the last minute. But, it's the thought that counts, right? Well, I was regretting that thought when we finally got to it. 

I actually assembled the house on Christmas Eve because it had to set for a few hours before decorating it. Fortunately, Daniel and my mother came behind me and assembled it again after my assembly did not last more than five minutes. I was so "pleased" with the endeavor that I was ready to throw it away, but my more patient mother and husband nicely salvaged the project. Thanks, guys! 

Still in our pajamas late on Christmas Day, Abigail and I finally got around to decorating it. That part was actually fun. 

I was impressed with Abigail's decorating skills as she continually explained the "patterns" she was creating. 

Not too shabby, for first time architects. But, I think it may be the last time unless next year I'm able to find a kit that includes an already constructed house that just needs to be decorated. I don't mind being Martha Stewart, but I'm not a contractor.

Tuesday Treats - Cooking Ahead

We started a terrible habit earlier this year when our house (in South Carolina) was on the market. It seemed almost all showings on the house were done around 5-6 p.m. weekdays, meaning we were kicked out of the house around dinnertime many evenings. We did what any fiscally irresponsible and non-health conscious family would do.  We kicked our eating out habit into overdrive. 

Once the house sold, we were in transit for a few months, which continued to fuel our eating out. 

I could rattle off many more excuses, but the story is that we've been frequenting restaurants way too often for the past six to seven months. It doesn't help that my long workdays usually culminate just in time to eat or even after dinnertime many days. Thus, the option of me cooking dinner every night just isn't realistic. But, we have been faced with the challenge of ending this horrible habit, for budgetary and health reasons.

About six to eight weeks ago, I decided that we needed to find a way to eat at home on a nightly basis. A friend in my weekly Bible study mentioned that she spends every Sunday afternoon cooking their meals for that week, which made me think that the cooking ahead/freezing method seemed to be our best route. We are certainly a leftovers-friendly family, but I've never frozen meals in advance and knew nothing of the ins and outs of this practice. But, I dove right in and took it upon myself to spend New Year's Day grocery shopping and cooking meals for our family that would last us a month. 

I used quite a few Pampered Chef recipes and tips that were sent my way from my friend Emily. And, I also included a few Weight Watchers and Pampered Chef recipes that I cook regularly. I wanted to make sure I didn't go to this effort and end up with meals we didn't enjoy. In the end, it was a messy endeavor...

 

...but, it was very simple and seems to be paying off well. We've only had two of the meals so far, but we have 10 other entrees to choose from that we'll split up into leftovers and ration out over January. 

If you want any of the recipes, just let me know and I'd be happy to share them with you. I made...

Dijon Chicken Noodle Toss

Chicken Stir Fry

Smoky Black Bean Chicken Wraps

Tortilla Soup

Mexican Chicken Casserole

Skillet Lasagna (very tasty and made with Italian turkey sausage)

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Chili

Cheddar Chicken & Rice

Taco Soup

Lean N Green Chili

Tex Mex Chicken & Rice

Beef Enchilada Casserole

As you can see, my freezer isn't even full thanks to the handy (and cheap) Reynolds vacuum bags. Hopefully, this will help keep the frostbite at bay while leaving room in the freezer for cold mugs, a few of the kids' treats and some veggies.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

10 corn tortillas (soft)

2 cups cubed chicken (cooked)

12 oz. shredded fat-free cheddar

1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1 can fat-free cheddar cheese soup

1 can Rotel

1 1/4 cup skim milk

1 cup chopped onion

Tear tortillas in 1" strips.  In baking dish, alternate layers tortillas, meat and cheese, reserving 1/2 cup cheese. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over layers. Top with 1/2 cup cheese and freeze in dish. To serve: thaw; bake covered at 350 for 20 minutes, uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Servings: 8. WW points: 6.

Movie Monday - Charlotte's Web

I interrupt this Movie Monday blog entry to show you our Texas Longhorn pride. Hook 'Em Horns!

We're cheering our Longhorns on tonight in the National Championship bowl game, err... I mean, the Fiesta Bowl. The kids had to take baths after the pre-game, but they were still wearing their Longhorn gear, thanks to the blankets from Aunt KellyAnn. 

Back to Movie Monday...

Abigail has been asking to see The Tale of Despereaux for weeks. She was convinced she would see it over Christmas with Aunt KellyAnn. Fortunately, the movie showing times never coincided with their free time. I say "fortunately," because I planned to take the kids to the movie yesterday but I checked out a review at the Christian Spotlight on Entertainment and made the decision not to see Despereaux. The comments from parents that said the dark themes and spookiness of much of the movie caused nightmares for their kids made me balk at exposing the kids to it. Abigail and Cooper neither one have nightmares, that I know of, but I don't want to go to a children's animated movie only to see spookiness. We want laughs and smiles!

I explained the situation to Abigail, and we began talking about the other movies. We contemplated seeing Bedtime Stories, but in the end she took the fiscally responsible choice and asked to purchase Charlotte's Web. 

Since it's the only movie she's ever seen in the theater, I thought it was a great choice. And, at just $10, it was a lot cheaper than going to see a flick at the theater. Even better, we got to watch it in our jammies!

The movie is very close to the Newbury Award-winning book by E.B. White that I grew up with, and I love that it is happy and tells a great story. And, we've recently had to discuss the issue of death (another post for another time), so it was good timing for Abigail to see this story again.

If you're looking for a new video to add to your collection, this one's a winner.

Now... Back to our Horns!

Christmas - Part Deux

The last few days of our time in Odessa was spent with the Dunaways, Stephanie's family.  This time included Christmas Day, so we also enjoyed our own Hardy family Christmas traditions at the same time.

I can't believe I didn't get pics of the annual Hardy Christmas Crab Boil.  This Christmas Eve feast, courtesy of Daniel, was an event we were obviously occupied too much with to take photos.  There were crab legs and shrimp and potatoes and corn cobs.  It was so, so, yummy. But, I will admit that the seafood was a bit harder to procure in the desert of West Texas than we've previously experienced in Charleston.

Christmas Day was not a sign of the RecessMas that the media has been fear mongering so viciously. It was truly a blessed Christmas for us, that we enjoyed so much.

The kids had fun climbing into their new sleeping bags with built in air mattresses. Little do they know, it's all part of our plan to make them sleep on the floor when company comes from now on...

It was a bit upsetting for Daniel to see, but Cooper enjoyed being Abigail's first client in her new hair salon chair. He sat there patiently enjoying primping from his sister.

The bouncy ball from Gran was also a big hit, but it's probably more fun for us to watch him fall from it any time someone lets go of him.

The kids got numerous dress-up outfits from ballerinas to race car driver to Cinderella. 

  

Obviously, Daniel was jealous and made his own dress-up outfit from his new life-jacket (to be used with his new kayak) and his helmet (to be used with his new welder) and his new spotlight (to be used to find stray glass in future glasseroles, i.e. Thanksgiving).

 

From all his loot, Cooper was most taken with the set of Caterpillar trucks Grandad gave him. Unfortunately for Grandad, Cooper seemed to think Grandad was a perfect track for his trucks.

Of course, there were diamonds and shoes and clothes and much more more to fill the day. But, really it was such a treat to be with family. It was the first Christmas in quite a few years that Daniel and I were in Odessa over the holidays and able to share the time with both sides of our families. The chance to be together and easily travel to see them was the best part of the holiday season this year. In many ways, the blessings we've been gathering all year came together to create a very blessed time for us. We continue to see how fortunate we are that God made a way for us to live in Texas and raise the kids so close to our families. We truly mean it when we say, "Thank the Lord!"