Good Morning from Lawton, Oklahoma!!

I don't have much time but I wanted to check in with everyone and let you know that we made a safe trip, had a great wedding and are now in Lawton, OK. This afternoon we're heading to Oklahoma City to catch a plane back home.

The kids are excited, they have had a blast with all their cousins but now they're both ready to return home....when we got here to Lawton last night, the first thing Nicholas asked his uncle was "do you think your neighbors have video games?" LOL

We miss our girls (the pugs) and we can't wait to get back to normal, whatever that means, at least until we get ready to move here in a few weeks. Time has just flown by here and we've loved every minute, have laughed til our sides hurt, have eaten good food and just enjoyed the few days we had.....

Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers, if you could say another little one that we make it back home safe and sound, I would appreciate it.

I hope you're all having a wonderful day, hope you didn't miss me too much (just kidding) LOL....I'll be back tomorrow with stories and pictures for you all, so you might want to take some time off work just to hang out with me....*snicker*

God Bless,

Leaving on a Jet Plane!!!!

We're heading out this morning to my Mother in Law's wedding in Texas, it's been a crazy week for us and when I get back I will tell you all about our experience last night trying to get mine and Jasmine's dresses. Unbelievable!!!

Anyway, I won't be back until late monday night, hope you all have a great weekend and I'll see you when I get back.

God Bless,

Welcome to my weekly Crockpot Recipes Exchange. It's such a great way to share your avorite dishes or to learn some new ones to make for your family.

What do you think??? Do You have some great recipes to share, or perhaps you're looking for some delicious ones to give you a reason to pull out the ol' crockpot???

Time to pull out those crockpots and put them to good use. If you want to join in, just grab the banner and add your name to Mr Linky :)

Beer Beef Stew with Dumplings

Ingredients

1¼ lb (500g) beef, cubed
3 tbsp all-purpose (plain) flour
2 onions, medium - sliced
½ pint (300ml) beer (ale)
2 tsp prepared mustard (paste)
1 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper

Dumplings

3 oz (85g) self-raising flour
1 oz (25g) butter
1 tsp dried herbs
pinch salt and pepper
2fl oz (50 ml) milk


Method

1 Put the flour in a plastic bag and add the beef. Toss around until coated.
2 You could now brown the meat if you desire - however we did not have time.
3 Put the beef and onion in the crock pot.
4 Mix the other ingredients together and pour over the beef.
5 Cook on low for 8-10 hours
6 Sometime during this period make the dumplings.
7 Combine all the ingredients, with sufficient milk (may need slightly more or less) to make a soft dough.
8 Shape into four to six balls.
9 About 40 minutes prior to serving, put the dumplings in the crock pot.
10 Turn on high, replace lid. And enjoy in 30-40 minutes.

Notes
Next time, I would make double the dumpling mix and make twice the number of dumplings. The dumplings worked very well.

When is school starting again???

I'm not joking, when is it starting????? I'm counting the days already, as sad as it may be to actually admit but if I hear another kid fighting or screaming, bickering, crying or being jealous of each other, I will take my diet coke and run for the nearest hills, and being in mountain home, there's LOTS to hide out in.

I honestly feel like a referee stuck in the middle of a huge team that just does NOT get along and quite frankly it's tiring, it's frustrating and it's sad, the last thing you want to hear from your children's mouth is "I HATE my brother" or "I HATE my sister"...not that I believe they even fully understand the meaning of the word but it's nonetheless disheartening to hear as a parent.

Sometimes I wish I had superpowers, maybe one that could just freeze them in time, the minute bickering started, I could just snap my fingers and they would be frozen, just there looking at each other in menacing ways but not actually saying anything or flinging arms around trying to get a good shot on the other one. What is it with sibling rivalry???? I've mentioned it so many times on my blog and I guess I'll keep at it because it's just mind boggling to me.

The week is flying by and today I have to go pick up mine and Jasmine's dresses for the wedding on saturday, there's so much to do and so little time to do it in. Again, those "freeze time" superpowers could come handy right now.

Tomorrow morning we're heading to the school to pick up Jasmine's report card and then it's back home to pack for the trip, clean the house and last minute things.

I can't wait for this move to be over with, it's frustrating seeing the house full of boxes and I just want to get settled in the new house ASAP.

I've been so homesick lately, I miss my family, I miss my friends and I miss my greatgrandmother's cooking, she was such an amazing lady, cooking meals for 20 or so people....I have to tell you, I grew up cooking for big crowds so when I first got married I had the hardest time trying to cut down portions and learning to cook just for myself and Curt, it was actually pretty funny.

He would just laugh at me, but hey, we had tons of leftovers LOL

Talking of food and cooking, I've been adding new recipes to my food blog, I think I'm going to be using it as an online record for my cookbooks, as we get ready to move, I've found so many handwritten, some by my grandmother, stepmother, others by myself and I don't want to loose them, but in the event that any go missing at least I'll have them online right??

I have things waiting to be attended to, so I'm skidaddling out of here, I'll leave you with my To Do list for today.

God Bless,

TO DO LIST

Finish all laundry
Put laundry away
Vacuum and steam clean living room carpet
Pick up dresses for wedding
Get new tires for my Durango
Make a few phone calls related to the move
Bake cookies with the kids
Buy gift for Jasmine's teacher
Mail off Book Contest books....I'm SO SO sorry they haven't gone off yet.
Update Food Blog
Return books to library

Happy Memorial Day!!!

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day to remember those who have died in our nation's service.

Always Remember
We bow our heads in silent grace;
Proud to stand upon this place.
To honor those who we love and lost;
Whose lives were taken at such a cost.
Through the pain and sorrow, for all the brave and true;
To always be remembered by me and by you.
To heal the minds and hearts, of those who still live;
Always remembering what they had to give.
Live your lives with pride in hearing what I say;
May God bless and keep you on this and every day.

Mike Baird


It's monday and we're supposed to be having a cookout, but we're not, with all this moving and packing we completely forgot to get charcoal and meat etc......oh well, we can still remember the Veterans and say a prayer for those that have passed, their families and those currently serving our country and families too. True Heroes!


I've posted my Menu Plan Monday over at my food blog and if you take a look on my sidebar, I've also added the Menu there, that way you can see what we're eating everyday, I'm not sure you even care but just in case you're curious LOL

I also posted some new recipes, Golden Bread Slices, Coriander Breaded Soup and Cod with Cream Sauce, I'll be adding some more during the day....oh and btw, they're all portuguese recipes.

But now I have to tell you about my shopping experience the other day, and be prepared because it's a bit of a rant. I decided to go shopping for a bikini *GASP* WHY, why do I do this to myself???

I would love to know who came up with those dressing rooms, who was the genius that invented the bright horrible lighting and the fun house mirrors???? Seriously, they're not fun at all....if you want to feel horrible about yourself then GO buy a bikini but make sure you try it on. There's dimples and bumps and wrinkles in places you had no idea existed and quite frankly I don't believe they DO, the mirrors just want you to believe that. I walked out of there so depressed and scowling at every single skinny hot girl that walked by me, wished burgers and fries on them and ended up NOT buying anything.

Then because apparently the dressing room experience wasn't enough to put me down, my bladder joined in by making me use the public bathrooms, or the GLASS CAGES as I like to think of them. Is there anything worse than trying to go in a public bathroom??? What is up with those doors, I always picture saloon doors, you know the ones that only cover half of your body???
Because that's not enough either, they have huge gaps on the sides, so I've started using my kids as DB's (door blockers), I stick one on one side and the other on the other side and then go as fast as I can.

Nothing like sitting there while someone is washing their hands and smiling at you....embarrassing.

Last night I finished watching the movies I had or "chick flicks" as my hubby likes to say. I watched "The Queen" which was just brilliant, Helen Mirren was outstanding.......I also watched "Marie Antoinette" with Kirsten Dunst which was really good too. I'm a huge fan of any movie during the Elizabethian or Victorian Era's.

Sadly I have none left to watch today, so I guess I'll catch up on my reading, most of my books are already packed away but I do have a few I got from the library to tide me over until the move.


Friday morning we're flying to Oklahoma City for my MIL's wedding, this will be the first time the kids are in an airplane so I'm curious as to how this will go. I think Nicholas will be ok but Jasmine is deathly afraid of heights and has already stated that she will NOT be sitting at a window seat. Any advice on flying with little ones???

I have laundry waiting for me and a house to clean so I'm leaving you with a video clip for this Memorial Day.

There should be a law against waking up early

on the weekends. Is there one that I can use against the kids???

I'm telling you, it's hard enough being up early during the week when there's school and work and errands etc, but where does it state that on saturday and sunday mornings, that schedule is to be maintained STARTING with waking up at 6:30am. Do these kids NOT know that they're supposed to sleep in???

Anyway, come on in and have some coffee with me, there's PLENTY to go around.

The time is flying by so we're running around trying to get everything ready for the move....school is finally over so we're done with that, but this week we have to go back on thursday to pick up the report cards, then friday morning we're flying to Oklahoma for my Mother in Law's wedding, we won't be back until Monday night.

The movers are coming the 26th of June, so it's really time to crank it up. I just wish that when you got orders, they let you go ahead and pack up and leave....this thing of "here's your orders, now you're leaving in 6 months" is just so frustrating...I don't like waiting, I'm impatient and just want to get to my new base and settle in.

Yesterday we had a yard sale and pretty much sold everything, by the end I was giving away things for free, that's how desperately I wanted to get rid of things, whatever wasn't picked up went to the Airman's Attic.

The kids had been asking for McDonald's for the past week, so we took them there to eat and actually went inside, not the drive-thru. We usually don't do that because honestly, it's so much of a pain in the behind with the kids fighting and yelling and screeching, it's downright embarassing to me so I just get the drive-thru and let them duke it out in the car LOL

By the time we got back home, I was tired and just wanted to sit down and watch a movie, the kids were happy playing with Curt so I got to lay down on my bed and just watch tv. I watched "Because I said So" which I really really enjoyed.

A meddling mother (Diane Keaton) tries to set her daughter up with the right man so her kid won't follow in her footsteps.

Then I got to watch "Shakespeare in Love"...amazing, truly enjoyed it. Not only is it pretty much the story of how Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, which is a classic, but Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes were brilliant.

A young and broke Shakespeare falls in love with a woman, inspiring him to write "Romeo and Juliet."

So what am I doing today you may ask? Well, Curt has weekend duty so he's at work right now and it's just me and kiddos....they're both playing games on the computer and I think I'm going to watch some more movies in between doing laundry and cleaning the house....here's what I have in my TBW (to be watched) pile.

Marie Antoinette

Oscar® winner Sofia Coppola brings to the screen a fresh interpretation of the life of France's legendary teenage queen MARIE ANTOINETTE.

The Queen

Full of wit, humor, and pathos, Stephen Frears’ moving portrait of the British royals during the period after Princess Diana's death features not one but two remarkable performances, that of Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and Michael Sheen as the newly-ordained Prime Minister Tony Blair. They embody their characters and lay bare the motivations behind these prominent people, giving viewers a glimpse into the inner workings of the British monarchy.

I'm also starting a new book by Jennifer Crusie called "Manhunting" which I'm really looking forward to, Ms Crusie is hilarious. The first book I read by her was "Bet Me" and it quickly became an all time favorite of mine, it's just one of those you can't put down :)

Now I need to get going but I wanted to leave you with some links to what is being discussed in blogland today, I have to tell you, I'm extremely lucky in the sense that my favorite blogs are by some amazing women, and I wanted you all to get to know them too.

Sarah is talking about True Beauty, it's an awesome post so go on over and read it.

Barb has her Sunday Meanderings up and I just LOVE LOVE them, I try not to miss them every week.

Annie is sharing her weekend reflections and posting loads of photos, some look SO yummy.

Andrea is sharing photos from the Memorial Day Parade her family attended, go take a look.

Jill is one of my new favorite bloggers, she's talking about Meat today, LOL, yeah you heard me, Meat....she just cracks me up.

And that's it, I've truly gotta get a move on, the laundry pile won't wash itself, no matter how much I ask it to.

Have a blessed Memorial Day Weekend!

Show and Tell Friday!!!

The wonderful Kelli over at "There's no place like home" has started this friday feature, here's what she had to say:

Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, a new antique find, an old love letter. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better!

If you would like to join in, all you have to do is post your "Show and Tell" on your blog, copy the post link, come over here and add it to Mr. Linky.

I missed this last week, I had my mother in law visiting and didn't get a chance to come post with you all.

Again this is a treasure I had shared a LONG time ago but none of you were reading my blog back then so I thought I would bring it back and share with you.



It's a handmade silk spanish shawl. It's beautiful all on it's own, but even more so because my grandmother gave it to me. My grandfather (my mom's dad), was a musician, he played guitar for some of the greatest fadistas of Portugal. You can find out more about Fado here.
On one of his trips to Spain, he acquired this Shawl which he gave to my grandmother, and she later on gave to me, years after he had passed away.

Not only is this shawl a gorgeous piece, but the sentiment attached to it is MAJOR. It's like having a small part of my grandfather with me, forever. I first got it in Portugal when I visited my grandmother there, then brought it back home to South Africa, and now to the States. It's one of those items that if the house had to burn down, it would be safely tucked under my arm as I run out the door. :)



It's just gorgeous!

Slow Cooking Thursday!!!

Welcome to my weekly Crockpot Recipes Exchange. It's such a great way to share your avorite dishes or to learn some new ones to make for your family.

What do you think??? Do You have some great recipes to share, or perhaps you're looking for some delicious ones to give you a reason to pull out the ol' crockpot???

Time to pull out those crockpots and put them to good use. If you want to join in, just grab the banner and add your name to Mr Linky :)

CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE PAELLA

Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 lbs. meaty chicken pieces
1 tbsp. cooking oil
8 oz. cooked smoked turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. snipped fresh thyme or 2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. thread saffron or 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 141/2 oz. can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 c. water
2 c. chopped tomatoes
2 yellow or green sweet peppers, cut into very thin bite-size strips
1 c. frozen green peas
3 c. hot cooked rice

Directions:
Skin chicken. Rinse chicken; pat dry. In a large skillet brown chicken pieces, half at a time, in hot oil. Drain off fat. In a 3 1/2, 4, or 5 quart crockery cooker place chicken pieces, turkey sausage, and onion. Sprinkle with garlic, dried thyme (if using), black pepper, and saffron or turmeric. Pour broth and water over all. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Add the tomatoes, sweet peppers, peas, and if using, the fresh thyme to the cooker. Cover; let stand for 5 minutes. Serve over the hot rice. Makes 6 servings

HOMESTYLE BREAD PUDDING

Ingredients:
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
2 1/4 cups Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 cups 1-inch bread cubes
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/2 cup Raisins or chopped dates

Directions:
In medium mixing bowl, combine eggs with milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, bread, sugar, and raisins or dates. Pour into 1 1/2-quart baking or souffle dish. Place metal trivet (or aluminum foil shaped in a ring to keep the dish off the bottom of the pot) or rack in bottom of slow cooker/Crock Pot. Add 1/2 cup hot water. Set baking dish on trivet. Cover pot; cook on high for about 2 hours. Serve pudding warm or cool. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

I admit, I LOVE Electricity!!!

What can I say??? I'm glad I didn't live back in the day when there was no electricity, I honestly don't know if I would survive it without crying myself to sleep every night LOL

Yesterday afternoon I was all happily sitting on my computer and getting ready to go visit some blogs when all of a sudden.......BAM. EVERYTHING went off. Now I don't know how the rest of the ladies are out there but I'm the one that walks slowly up to the Electricity Box, open it up and just stare at all the pretty buttons.

I get this rebellious feeling because I want to just get in there and start snapping all the buttons to the side, don't matter if it's the right one or not, I just like hearing the SNAP as they move....here's a question though, who the heck invented these things, I need BOTH hands and all the energy and force I can muster to move the dang button. After trying for a couple times I realized it wasn't just my house, it was the whole neighborhood plus the neighborhood behind us.

You don't even understand the panic that sets in....OH.MY.GOSH....no tv, no lights, no phone (I don't have a cellphone), no stove, no computer. Are you kidding me??? Is this let's see how much stress we can give Sandra day??? I sat there and whined about not having any of it and then I thought, how ridiculous, is it really going to kill me to have no electricity for a few minutes?

Well the problem is that the minutes turned into hours and we didn't get everything back up until 6pm. I was literally sweating bullets (not really but you know it sounds dramatic LOL), all these thoughts start going through my head, what if I miss the final Dancing with the Stars or American Idol, oh wait I can't cook dinner either and it's not fun using the bathroom in the dark. Go ahead and laugh I know you want to, I'm pathetic I admit LOL

Anyway, what matters is that it came back on and now I'm happy and I thank God for living in this day and age.

The moving is going slow, I'm sick of packing already and I am not even near halfway done, aren't there little magical packing elves that we can call upon to get things done while we sleep??? If there are I would like to be pointed in their direction!

Jasmine is at the stage of the school year where she fights every morning to get up.....she's DONE, I swear she does great until the last 3 days and then turns into a snotty princess. I'm just happy because it means that next week we don't have to get up early anymore, we can stay up late, sleep in and not worry about schedules and running around for the next 3 months....well as much as we can deviate from it while moving across states LOL

I have so much to do and no motivation for it at all, I think I'm still reeling over being told we can't have a trampoline. I'm the kind of person who likes explanations, don't just tell me they're banned at the base, tell me WHY and WHO so that I don't have to play the mean mommy who just told them their precious trampoline will be packed and boxed up until we get our own house, whenever that may be.

BTW I don't know what is going on with blogger (must be pmsing again), I can NOT for the life of me get on any of your blogs. It just gives me a 502 Server Error, I don't know what it is or why it's happening but it's been for the past two days and it's starting to work on my last nerve. If anyone else is going through this let me know so that I don't feel like the computer illiterate fool probably doing something really dumb and thereby messing with the Blog World.

Anyway, it's lunch time and I need to feed the little one...then I have so more laundry to get through and yet more packing. It's a busy chaotic life right now but we manage to smile through it all and you have no idea how tightly I've been clutching the Lord's hand, if it weren't for Him I would be a total mess right now.

Have yourselves a great wednesday afternoon, I'm off to indulge in some wonderful Portuguese Soup with Homemade Bread (sorry I would link it to my food blog but Blogger is MIA right now).

God Bless,

I.AM.FREEZING!!!

Bet you didn't expect to hear that in the middle of May did you???

We went from 90 degree weather to rain, strong winds and 40 degrees. Why is all I ask????
I thought we were all ready for warm weather, who was it that decided it was too hot and we were in the mood for some frozen fingers and sciatic pain???


I've always had sciatica and when the weather changes drastically, so do I....instead of finding little ol' me walking around you stumble across the hunchback of Notre Dame (minus the hunchback and the smile on his face, I'm usually not that chirpy). I drag my leg around and wince at every step and if you see me laying down on the bed, cover your ears because chances are the minute I try to get up I wail like a Banshee. Isn't that appealing???? LOL

In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass.

Yep that's me, ol' glass shatterer LOL

Anyway, it's my dear hubby's birthday today, he's turning 34 years old but let's keep it hush hush, he doesn't like birthdays and has been known to threaten anyone who even mentions buying any sort of gift. This is why he's heading to the gym after work and mommy and the kids are heading to the store for a last minute gift, little does he know we've already bought stuff....again....HUSH HUSH. (and no, he hasn't been reading my blog lately lol)

The kids decided to make a little video for daddy, they both sang their own version of Happy Birthday and then ended with a little Hello Message....they crack me up. Watch for Nicholas especially, he seems to think that people enjoy being called monkeys and toucans on their birthday....*snort*

Happy Birthday Daddy!

So yesterday afternoon I decided to pack some things in the kitchen, please tell me why people do this to themselves???? Why do we accumulate so much crap during the years??? I have stuff that,

A. Have no clue how it got here
B. Is broken or missing some important piece needed to make it work
C. Is not even supposed to be in a kitchen
D. I've NEVER used it, it's still intact and in mint condition, safely packed in their little pretty boxes.

Are you kidding me??? Why, again, I seem to be asking a lot of why's today don't I??? LOL
But at least I got some stuff packed and others ready for the yard sale on saturday.

While talking to the lady in housing at the new base she told me that Trampolines are NOT allowed there. Ummm.....should I pass the phone to the kids and have HER explain that???
See our trampoline was a gift from my Mother in Law to the kids 2 years ago, that alone makes it special BUT the kids LOVE it (so do mommy and daddy but that's besides the point)......how do I tell an 8 and 4 year old that their precious trampoline is not allowed on base???



So we're taking it and if we get one of the houses with a garage, it will stay there until we buy our own house, if we don't get a garage we'll put it in storage, no problem. Somehow Arizona is not looking like much fun to me anymore LOL

Things are going to get hectic from now on (surprise surprise right?), this is the kids last week of school before summer break, then next week we're heading to Oklahoma for my mother in law's wedding, when we get back it's back to packing and within 2 weeks we'll be out of this house and in TLF (temporary living facilities). I know time is going to fly by, so within the next few days I'll start asking some of you to be guest bloggers for me while I'm offline, hope you will accept the challenge :)

Anyway, I have things to do around here and phone calls to make....you all have a wonderful Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow morning.

God Bless,