Tuesday Treats - Sopapilla Cheesecake - Just in Time for Cinco de Mayo!

This is one of my favorite desserts because it's super yummy but quick and easy to bake. My Mom passed this recipe on to me several years ago, and I've been asked to share it on several occasions so it's about time I shared it here.

 

INGREDIENTS

Crust

2 cans crescent rolls

 

Filling

16 oz. Cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 t. vanilla

 

Topping

1/2 cup sugar

1 T. cinnamon

1/2 stick butter, melted

 

Directions

Roll out one can of crescent rolls in bottom of 9x13 pan, pressing together at seams.  Mix cream cheese, sugar, vanilla together and spread over rolls.  Spread out second can of crescent rolls over filling.  Pour melted butter over top layer of rolls. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over butter.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Movie Monday - The Caller

I'm now wondering why I'm reviewing this. I guess it's because I haven't written a Movie Monday entry in quite a few weeks and this is the only movie we've seen in that time. I wish I had something better to offer you. This movie was terrible. 

Daniel went to sleep and I was wishing I had done the same. It was one of those films that I just kept thinking... "It's going to get better any minute..." because surely no one would make a movie this horrible. But, I was wrong. Someone made a horrible movie.

It was boring, lacked a plot, Elliott Gould was poorly cast and bugged me the entire movie, the soundtrack lulled us to sleep, etc... In other words, don't see this movie. 

In Layman's Terms

I'm a serious Dave Ramsey follower, but that should clue you in on how strong my financial knowledge is. Let's just say that if my financial knowledge were measured in grade school terms, mine would be in kindergarten. That's why I like Dave. His guidelines are just what my knowledge-less self needs to keep from financial ruin. That being said, I have my own opinions of the federal government's recent financial actions, but I always preface those opinions with the statement that I am not an economist. The following video brings a current situation down to my level. I'm sure you are much more financially advanced than me, but you may be interested.

When Pigs Fly

My planned post about the explosion of Twitter has been delayed by the more dominant and sudden explosion of the Swine Flu. (From here on, I'll refer to it as pig flu simply because I think that sounds better. I could opt for the newly coined "North American Flu," but I like "pig flu" better.) I'll get back to Twitter another day.

I'm not sure if pig flu is dominating the talk around your area, but here in Central Texas it is all anyone is talking about. (Actually, at church last night, no one said a word about pig flu. And, I haven't been out of the house other than that this week, but from the looks of the local newspaper, it appears that outside the confines of my bubble, that's all anyone is talking about.) For the purposes of this blog entry, let's just assume that people are talking about this as much as the media is leading me to believe.

The school districts in my area that have already closed are Cibolo, New Braunfels and Comal. There are other districts in the state that have also closed for decontamination, most notably Fort Worth ISD.  As of this writing, only one school in Austin has closed for pig flu. I don't have children in school or day care, and that is a great relief at this point. However, I have wondered to what extent I should heed the warnings of the health department. 

Should we avoid eating out until contamination is less likely? I'm not suggesting I could be contaminated via a pork chop, but just that any unnecessary public congregating might should be avoided. What about church? In one nearby county, the health department has advised all churches to cancel all activities other than one abbreviated service on Sunday. It is a bit of a nagging thought to drop leave my children in classes with other children attending school who have higher contamination probability. I'm talking about kids who eat their boogers, are not ashamed to let snot freely run from their noses and not shield flying mucous from spraying from their noses and mouths via sneezes and coughs. Can't you just see little Suzy sneezing and microscopic pigs flying through the air and building new homes for themselves in Cooper?! I'm painting a lovely picture here, aren't I?  What about shopping? I always wipe down the cart at the grocery store before touching it or seating one of the kids in it, but is that enough? 

My initial thought is to just go about normal activities with a few slight enhancements. I don't think we'll avoid anything other than taking the kids to the store or the gym. I assume it's safe, but not necessary. Why not avoid it if possible? As for any other outings, I'll just increase the "hanisizer" usage when in public. (That's hand sanitizer for those of you who don't the language of my children.)

But, more so my thoughts have turned to the politics of this matter. If you know me, that's an obvious path. I was informed by a friend yesterday that after the schools were closed in her area of north Texas, all children were ordered to remain secluded in their own homes. Gathering for play time was prohibited and the police would be patrolling to enforce the order. The question to that is "What would they do?" Would they arrest a child or parent of a child who is playing at the park? If so, under what law? Doesn't that seem a bit unconstitutional? For a flu strain that the CDC has deemed not fatal, that seems beyond the realm of reason.

A conspiracy theorist was featured on a local morning radio show here in Austin yesterday and presented his idea that the pig flu was created by President Obama so that he could enact martial law. I'm all about not trusting the government, but that does seem largely ridiculous. A quick online search today found multiple conspiracy theorists: 1. Obama declared a "state of emergency" response to pig flu to promote the nomination of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as Dept. of Health & Human Services Secretary; 2. the fear mongering has been encouraged to lead to martial law and then Obama tearing up the Constitution; 3. the U.S. military has created the pig flu strain to control the population. I'm sure there are plenty more theories out there, but they are all too ridiculous to put more time into finding them. If you're interested, check out the Retard Zone here: http://retardzone.com/2009/04/27/top-10-swine-flu-conspiracy-theories/ to see the top 10 pig flu conspiracy theories.

Governments are even politicizing this new flu outbreak. The Indonesian Health Minister has accused Western governments of engineering the flu strain to oppress developing countries and boost the profits of pharmaceutical companies.  My favorite thus far is the Israeli government's response. They are insisting that the strain be dubbed the "Mexican flu" because "pig flu" is not kosher. 

I don't know what to think of all the uproar. Without a medical education, I am not qualified to determine what the appropriate governmental response should be to the pig flu. However, I am intrigued by the current goings-on. If you think you may have the pig flu and want to know the symptoms to look for, or you're just looking for a good chuckle, go here: http://www.doihavepigflu.com/

Must See Show!

I'm straying from a personal post to urge you to get your tickets to Glenn Beck's upcoming comedy tour. I've been a radio listener of his for about six years and have always enjoyed his humor. He's hilarious without being crass or vulgar like most comedians. 

Daniel and I saw his Christmas tour a few years ago, and it was (by far) the best live performance I've ever seen. Not only was he hilarious, but just as touching. We went expecting to see a comedy show, yet it was the best presentation of the story of Jesus' birth and death that I've ever seen. (Yes, Beck is by name, a Mormon, but I will never be swayed that he believes that Jesus was born and died to save him.) 

This summer he's touring with his Common Sense Comedy Tour June 1-6. If you're anywhere near a live performance - PLEASE GO. I promise you won't be disappointed. But, for the rest of us, get your tickets to see the live simulcast at a nearby movie theater on June 4 or the replay on June 11. 

I haven't been able to hear Glenn on the radio since we moved last year, but I did see his new Fox News show a few times before we canceled our cable. Even though it's on Fox News, it's still an awesome show! I can't wait to see how awesome he is live. If you can't take my word for it, check out snippits from his previous tours and then go buy your tickets. 

My parents visited us over the weekend to help celebrate Birthdaypalooza. There was, of course, many birthday happenings. Abigail received a Fancy Nancy doll and Longhorn charm for her charm bracelet from Kelly Ann, clothing/accessories for Fancy Nancy as well as Nancy's dog, Frenchie, from Gran, and a "See ya later" alligator charm from Grandad. 

There was plenty of doting, and hopefully we're well enough into this fifth year that we can return to our normal lives and complete the celebrations. I have to say, I'm birthdayed out!

On Saturday, we took the opportunity to visit Fredericksburg (or Fredericksburger, as the kids dubbed it) and see the wildflowers. Wild Seed Farms is a lovely stop 90 miles from us with fields of wildflowers to walk through. We had a nice lunch, watched all the wine tasters enjoying their treats, enjoyed the live music from the Almost Patsy Cline band, and frolicked (ha! I've never had a chance to actually use that word) through the flowers.

The red corn poppies, dotted with bluebonnets, were gorgeous.

Cooper was happy to break free of his stroller and run amok under Grandad's not so watchful eye. 

My sister, beautiful as always. The rest of us were windblown and a mess.

Abigail is always posing. Cooper just has to see the photos in the viewfinder every time you snap one. 

This larkspur is my favorite!

I'm so glad we got a chance to see the flower fields during wildflower season. I was much more pleased with Wild Seed Farms than the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center we visited in March. Also, I just love the area. The rolling green hills and fields of flowers made for a great drive and outing. I had no idea there were so many wineries in the area, but they looked like they could be a fun outing if you enjoy wine. As for Fredericksburg, I was especially pleased with all the shopping. We were able to go through about three blocks of shops, but I think you would have to spend a week to cover all the shopping in this small town. Hopefully we'll go back again soon! I'm sure Daniel will be thrilled to join us on a daytrip for shopping!

Birthday Bonanza

We're finally getting some recovery time after the 5th Birthday Bonanza that has occurred over the past four days. Let me tell you, we've never had a typical birthday party for either of our children, but I don't think they've ever been let-down from their celebration, especially Abigail on this 5th birthday.

Thursday was an entirely Abigail Day. Daniel treated her to (her choice) Jamba Juice smoothies to begin the day. Then, we set out on the great pet search. Eliminating fish and birds, Daniel told her his gift to her was her pet of choice. At the first pet store, Abigail was only interested in the ferrets, but we moved on hoping to find a better choice at another store. The second store had nothing to be desired. The third pet store was the jackpot. She landed on a guinea pig after (thankfully) deciding against a rabbit.

 

Meet Princess, Abigail's first pet. (Secretly, I was hoping for another dog, but we left the choice up to her. Hopefully Cooper will pick a dog in a few years, but I'm afraid I might end up living with some type of crazy reptile.) I apologize for not offering a better photo of our new family member, but I'm not about to get her out of her cage because that would require touching her. I'm just not going to do that. We're family now, but that doesn't mean I don't consider her a rat. I'm leaving Princess completely up to Abigail and Daniel.

We also spent some time at James Avery. For those of you not living in the south, please acquaint yourself with one of my favorite jewelers ever. You can order everything online if you don't have a store nearby. Abigail received her first charm bracelet and three charms. I'll share photos later since she's already been given a few new charms that we need to have soldered onto the bracelet. I think this keepsake jewelry deserves a posting later in the week when we can share pics and tell about each charm. 

The afternoon was girl time as we were joined by two of Abigail's friends, Morgan and Skylar, who enjoyed a trip to the nail salon.

The girls had the royal treatment with manicures and pedicures. 

They had a blast, and I was so jealous to not be joining them. Instead, I was photographing them and relishing the time as I realized my baby is such a big girl now! 

Afterwards, we moved over to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games. 

Again, the girls (and Cooper) had so much fun. 

Cooper and I especially enjoyed Skee-Ball, but I would highly advise that you have a look-out for flying wooden balls heading away from the Skee-Ball ramp if you ever try this game with Cooper.

At the end of the day, we were all wiped out, but Abigail was still celebrating. As you can see, she certainly had a fun day.