Saturday Bliss

Saturday morning has to be the perfect time in the Hardy family. We absolutely love Saturday morning family breakfasts. This morning, Daniel came home from a night of work to cook eggs and hash browns with help from his special assistants.

Abigail is the perfect egg cracker.


And, she taught Cooper how to scramble the eggs.


Daddy had to get some sleep for the day, but the kids and I have enjoyed a lovely day of fun and play. After a good workout at the gym, we picked up some groceries and the kids were introduced to moonpies that the scarfed down after lunch. Although, I keep having to correct Abigail who is calling them "man pies". he he he


(Please excuse the "non-manly" plate. I am trying to use up Valentine's Day party leftovers. And, don't tell Daniel I told you this, but Cooper loves the color pink. Ha!)

We even got some playtime outside today. You'd never know it was snowing just four days ago because it's sunny and 65 degrees out today. It's just beautiful!




Now, we're off to wrap up the night with some shrimp linguini and a movie. Yea for Saturdays!

Snow Day

Aside from a 10-minute show of flurries earlier this year, Abigail and Cooper have never seen snow. In their opinion, they've been so deprived. In fact, Abigail was in tears a few weeks ago upon learning that her cousin Avery was playing in another heavy snowfall just a few hours north of us in Dallas. Claims of "Avery always gets snow," and "We never get snow," and "It's not fair at all," were all she could muster up between sobs. Well, she got her wish today when we had 2-3" of snow fall in huge flakes. I was only able to snap a few photos of the fun because I detest snow and anything that has to do with cold weather. I preferred to stay inside. But, this is what I captured in my short visit to the tundra...

Abigail just wanted to eat the snow.




Cooper didn't know what to do with it.




Daddy knew just what to do with it: throw it at the neighborhood boys.




Then, he had a better idea that didn't involve tormenting the neighborhood boys: snow ice cream! Yum!

Movie Night

Daniel and I spent the weekend consumed with a minor home improvement project. We were painting, repairing furniture, installing newly built furniture, and so on. Oh, who am I kidding?! Daniel was painting, repairing furniture and installing newly built furniture. I was busy telling him how and where to do those things. I'll excuse my bossiness because it was my office that he was working in. But, really, I'm just a bossy person.

Anyways, the kids were left without the usual fun family time we have on the weekends, so we improvised and made Monday night a family movie night. Yes, we made a mess of popcorn in the living room floor and the kids were in bed late on a school night. Oh, well! We had a great time.





Nevermind Daniel's expression. He was really into "Night at the Museum." Ha! I think it was the sitting on the floor that he wasn't into. He didn't last long before heading to the couch to enjoy the rest of the flick. But, we were all there, snuggled up together by the end of the movie.

Lent

You may remember our observance of Lent last year when we gave up TV. I thought it would be painful, but ended up as one of the most productive self-improvement paths we've ever taken. We ended up paying out the remainder of our DirecTV contract to be able to cancel that service and did not even miss TV after the Lenten season was over. We found ourselves reading, talking, going to bed earlier, and many other good habits that we had neglected since having kids and being relegated to the house each night. We did end up hooking up a digital antenna box to be able to see Longhorn football games once fall rolled around, but there are still many days that the TV does not come one, and we are a much better family for it.

This year, the Lenten season snuck up on us and we found ourselves with just a few days of discussing and praying left before having to make a decision today, on Ash Wednesday. We've giving up restaurants as our penance. I think this will be much more tough than TV, at least for me. I rely on restaurants when we're running ragged and need to eat but haven't taken the time to cook dinner, or as a reward for something good the kids did (Chick-fil-a), or as a reward to myself when I'm stressed and bedraggled (Starbucks). This affects our bodies and personal well-being as we never eat as well at restaurants as we do at home. It affects our budget, as we allot entirely too much money to our eating-out line item. It affects our time management because it ends up taking longer to eat out on a week night as opposed to throwing something on the table and eating while still leaving time for baths and bedtimes instead of waiting for a table/waiting to be served/waiting for a check/driving home late/rushing to get the kids in bed. Really, there is nothing good that comes from our terrible reliance on restaurants, it is just another form of our gluttony and selfishness. Thus, it has to go.

This probably sounds trite and needless to many, but it is a severe weakness we have in our lives. I pray God uses this time to work healthier habits in our lives, as He did last year.

Tuesday Treats - Pulled Pork

I have a new best friend in my kitchen. Her name is Annabel, meaning easy to love. How could I not love something that has made my life wonderfully easy (not to mention, tasty)?!


Annabel is my deep covered baker. I've had her since October, but didn't get to know her so well until last month. Now, we spend time together almost every day. She's just so easy to be with. Ha!

I've been using a bunch of Pampered Chef recipes to cook potatoes, chicken, pork chops, roast, etc., with her. I've even thrown random things into Annabel without the aid of a recipe, which is not my normal style in the kitchen. But, she just makes things so easy. Ah, Annabel... How did I make it so long without you?!

My favorite recipe I've used with Annabel is for pulled pork. Not only is it so easy, but the tastiest meal I've made in a long time.



I rub a pork shoulder roast with some vegetable oil, coat it with barbecue rub and cook it in Annabel at 200 degrees for about 8 hours. Once done, the pork falls apart easily. For the sauce, combine 1 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 T barbecue rub, 2 t cider or white vinegar. Bring sauce to a boil then stir it into the pulled pork. My favorite way to eat this is on whole wheat kaiser rolls, but you can skip the bread to cut the carbs. Yum!

Valentine's Day - Part 2

I have a few roles in our Sunday School class, but my favorite is that of Missions Coordinator. I try to plan a form of outreach each month. Mostly, we have taken on a local crisis pregnancy center as our outreach focus. We collect diapers and baby care items once a month that I drop off at the center for the participants to earn through classes and Bible studies they attend. Through my position in the church nursery each Wednesday evening, my awareness of the difficult path single moms walk has grown. I am especially aware of how little churches do to reach out to these women. I am currently praying about how I can begin to work in this local ministry, but until that position becomes more clear, I am collecting diapers and encouraging others to help me in these donations each first Sunday of the month.

This month, I also planned a ministry effort to reach out to a group within our church. On Sunday, I had the special treat of hosting a breakfast at church in honor of our senior adults' Sunday School class. What better day than Valentine's Day to reach out to a special group and let them know how blessed we are to have them? The breakfast was fantastic, and I wish I had pictures to share with you, but in my preparation craziness Sunday morning, I completely forgot my camera. Drats! You'll have to take my word that it was a special time of fellowship, eating, and Bible study amongst the two classes.

We Love Our Teachers

In an act of cruelty, the kids' schools scheduled "Love Your Teachers" week to coincide with the week of Valentine's Day parties. We were asked to show the teachers that we love them each day this week. Yeah, every day. Don't get me wrong, we love the kids' teachers so much, but this wasn't exactly the best week to throw in extra things to do each day.

I had a lot of creative ideas in mind for the week, but last weekend was not freed up to allow me to complete them, so I ended up throwing some things together at the last minute each night this week. I think it turned out okay, though.

Monday, I used one of my ideas leftover from last year and decorated some hand sanitizer bottles.




Tuesday, I cheated and wasn't crafty at all. Instead, we left the house a few minutes early that morning and picked up a Starbucks gift card on the way to school. (This was probably the first time I've been grateful that Cooper only attends school three days a week. Whew! That saved me on some gifts this week.)

Wednesday, I baked pumpkin bread in my mini-loaf pan. I know pumpkin is not a normal treat for February, but I just happened to have everything in my pantry to throw it together.


If you like pumpkin bread, this is a very yummy but super easy recipe to use.


Thursday, I took another easy road and picked up a Blockbuster gift card and paired it with a microwave popcorn package.


Friday, the kids delivered hand-size apple pies. I was originally planning to make raspberry-swirl cheesecakes for each of our teachers, but when I found this idea yesterday, I decided it looked extremely less time consuming. I was right!


Now, I'm ready for the weekend when I'm not going to bake or craft or do anything! Whew!