Outdoors

Here I am! Just in case you were wondering. We've been keeping busy around this house. Lots of different reasons and things going on. It's been really nice weather wise around these parts. Cool in the morning, nice and sunny in the afternoon. Today it's really really windy, we are practically getting blown away while being outside. The poor birds flying around the back of our house can barely fly. But, this is what our afternoon's and evenings have consisted of all week:

Just playing outside! Landon would stay outside forever if I let him. If we had a nice nice backyard I would too. There is so much stuff to do back there I don't relax and have fun, I just pick weeds and clean.

I put some new hanging flower baskets up, Greg hates them!!! It's not my fault that he doesn't pay attention to where he is going and hits his head. haha. I think they are nice.

Monday we brought Zoey home from school with us. They had a blast playing together. We were outside for a long time. We played inside for a while, ate dinner then Aften came to get her. I made chicken tortilla soup for dinner and Aften stayed to eat with me. It was nice to catch up with her, we haven't chatted in a while!

Landon and I were out back last night and a fire truck came down our street. We ran in to see what was going on. I asked Landon if he wanted to go out front to check it out. The back door was still cracked open, and we opened the front, I went out, heard the door slam. I turned around and opened the door and Landon was screaming. The wind from the back blew the door shot and Landon tried to catch the door and it slammed his hand! Crap! I thought I was going to have to go out to the firemen and have them look at Landon's hands. His fingers had some blood, and he didn't like that.

So we've been keeping those fingers clean and are letting them air out now. Poor thing. He is such a trooper and tough boy. I guess we shouldn't be so nosey next time. (they were at a neighbors house, and elderly lady was taken away in an ambulance)

We've also seen lots of this lately

Greg's getting ready for his deployment. Not looking forward to it :(

Tomorrow night the base is having Rocking in the park. They are going to have food and bands for the base. We are going to go and hang out. Saturday is the big air show. I am pretty excited about that too. I think Landon will really enjoy it!

One last thing, Grammie, Landon LOVES his Bakugan sheets and is so excited to be sleeping on them! Thanks!!!

Great weekend

Such a great weekend! It was busy busy busy and non-stop, and I am pooped! Friday night I went and got a pedicure with some friends and then came home with Pizza's and we had dinner. Then we started packing and cleaning. I bought some tickets at ITT on base for a Rangers game on Saturday. We booked a hotel and everything too. Saturday morning we woke up and hit the road! Our first stop was Grapevine Mills Mall and lunch. We had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe.

I've never seen Landon's eyes so big, and to see him terrified. It's really dark inside, and the gorilla's go off, and everything moves, the elephants make noise, and the lights flash. It's really cool. Landon loved it, and it took him a few minutes to get adjusted and to figure out what was going on.

Our table was in the back by the waterfall, it was nice and dark, and nice and loud. To the right of Greg was a HUGE fish tank with lots of cool fish swimming around. After lunch we did some shopping. After shopping we checked in to the hotel to take naps. Well, no chance. There was no way Landon was going to nap. So, he watched some cartoons and we rested for a few hours.

We stopped at Walmart by the Cowboy's stadium to get Landon a shirt and some McDonald's for dinner, then we went to the Rangers game. We couldn't have picked a better day. The weather was PERFECT! About 75 and a very light breeze. It was great.

Greg wanted seats in the outfield. And we got them! They were really cool seats.

We walked around for a while checking everything out and then watched the end of batting practice. We had to get some snacks. Man, stadium food is pricey. Oh well, that's how it goes.

The Rangers lost, oh well, we had a great time any how. We went to the hotel and crashed. Except Landon did not sleep well AT ALL! We are all tired today. The hotel had a free hot breakfast so we ate, then showered and hit the road back to Abilene. Landon napped when we got home, we went to the Commissary and then grilled burgers for dinner. It was a great weekend, nice and busy and wonderful weather. I sure hope it stays like this for a while!

Tortilla Soup

Ahhhhh, tomorrow is Friday! I've almost made it through the week, and it wasn't bad at all. It does help when the weather is warm and the sun is shinning.

I think it was Sunday night, maybe Saturday night, I can't remember, but I made some delish chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot. Oh my. For some reason I really am in to soups. We even devoured the leftovers the next day. Now that I am thinking about it, I made it Saturday. Not that you even care, but it was bugging me because it seems like so long ago. Any who, fantastic recipe and EASY, which is even better for me.

Would you like the recipe? (I got it out of a crock pot cook book)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb Chicken (I used tenders)

2 cans (15oz each) diced tomato's undrained

1 can (4oz) chopped green chilli's, drained

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth (I used a whole small can)

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

To add on top of soup:

4 corn tortilla's, sliced in to 1/4 inch stripes

cilantro

cheese

avocado sliced

1.) Place chicken in crock pot. Combine tomato's, chilli's, onion, garlic, 1/2 cup broth and cumin in a bowl. Pour over chicken. Cook on high for 3 hours.

2.)Remove chicken and shred. Add more broth if necessary.

3.)Before serving add tortilla stripes (I cooked a tortilla in oil in a skillet and then broke it over the soup), cilantro, cheese and avocado. ENJOY!!! It was really tasty. I added more broth because it was such a thick and chunky soup. I even added about 1/2 cup frozen corn at the end!

So do you have any plans for the weekend? I really want to go to a Ranger's game. We don't have much time before Greg deploy's so we are trying to do as much as possible. I think it would be lots and lots of fun!!! Happy Thursday

Strawberry Shortcake & Creatures

I survived my first day back to work yesterday! It was nice to get back in to the swing of things. (Minus waking up early) I went to the gym when I got off then when we got home the sun came out! It was really nice outside. So Landon and I went and played in the back yard. He is really into his 'fishing' in the puddle on top of his sandbox, and he loves to play on his swingset. I picked some weeds, and when Greg got home from helping his friend he mowed. Glad he did, it was bad out there!

We made strawberry shortcakes for dessert last night. Landon was all about it. I got out the strawberrys, cool whip and mini cakes and Landon yelled, "YAY, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES!" Funny thing is is that I didn't tell him what I was making, he knew. How did he know? He is one smart little boy! We had spaghetti for dinner and Landon was a mess, so I just handed him his shortcake, messy face and all.

HE love love loved the cool whip! In fact, that is pretty much all he ate!

Today was nice again, so we went outside for a while. I was pulling weeds, again, and found a little surprise. I thought Landon would be scared, or not want to hold what I found. He proved me wrong and pretty much grabbed it right out of my hand!

He decided he needed to cover it with a leaf, do you know what it is?

Nope, we aren't going to let you see!!!

Ok, ok, have you guessed what it is yet? It's long...slimy....

A worm!!! (a dead one actually!) He loved that thing. He was setting it on the chair and saying, "There you go little guy," and was just watching it. It wasn't all the way dead when I gave it to him. But after about two minutes that poor worm was in two...

I got him to put the worm in his bug catcher from Grandpa Rick, nope, he wanted to hold it.

We came in and I scrubbed his hands pretty good, then pulled his shoes off.

Dirty little feet, aren't they cute? Bath time!

Don't make me!

Please oh please don't make me go back to work tomorrow. I am dreading 5am, I just want to stay home! This time at home has been perfect, and just what I needed. But, vacation's and time off must come to an end. It'll be nice to see the kids and my co-workers. (I wish I was rich!)

We've just been hanging out today. I went to the gym, and then we went and had some lunch and went to a few shops. While Landon napped I watched TV and just vegged out on the couch. I had BBQ shredded pork cooking in the crock pot all day, so the house has smelled FANTASTIC!

I have a fear that our computer is going to crash, and we have alllllll our pictures saved on it. It's time to save them to an external hard drive. So, we found one at Target. Greg's been working on transferring stuff to it. It will make me feel much much better. I just had this terrible feeling that when Greg was gone it was going to happen. I know nothing, I mean nothing about computers so I wouldn't know what to do!

I'd better go get my gym bag packed, and Landon's stuff ready for tomorrow. I want to have everything ready so I can sit on the couch tonight and watch my shows! Dancing with the Stars and Ultimate Cake off!!! Happy Monday!

Lazy Sunday

Ahhh, I love love love lazy Sunday's. It's still cloudy and raining here. Nothing better than sticking around the house on these kinds of days.

Yesterday we went to Zoey's birthday. It was supposed to be outside, but it was raining, so it was held inside. Landon could have cared less. He was thrilled to get to play with Zoey's Mermaid and her toys. He carried Ariel around the entire time we were there. And when it was time to go, yes of course he screamed bloody murder.

I enlarged and developed a few pictures from the past few weeks at Walmart. They also had frames there for $3 bucks. So I framed them today. I wanted to do scrapbook paper in an 8x10 frame and put a 5x7 picture inside, but this is what I did so far.

Michael's didn't have a great selection of paper, so I think I am going to go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow and see what they got. I am also going to try to paint his white frames in his room black. Greg wants me to wait to hang and do stuff till we get his bed. But you know me, I have NO patience what-so-ever!

Well, tomorrow is my last day off. I am so sad. I would love to stay home all the time. I really enjoyed being off. After all the stuff we've been through in the last month I really needed some time to just relax and get away. 5am sure is going to hurt Tuesday morning!

Rain rain go away

Don't get me wrong, I mean, I love rain, I know we need the rain. But why? Why does it have to rain and be cloudy the entire time we are on vacation? It's just our luck. We kinda had to take leave this month, since Greg is delpoying next month. Ya kinda never know when they are going to leave. Usually it's pretty nice in Texas in April. And, yes I know, "April showers bring May flowers." We should be applying sunscreen and sun tan lotion, not walking around like this.

I think we got about a whole day of sunshine in the last week. It was sunny about half a Saturday last weekend, and we got about half a day of sunshine on Tuesday. I was kinda hoping to have sun kissed skin, and be outside working in our yard planting flowers and pulling weeds, blowing bubbles and riding scooters. We should smell like sunscreen and coconut. I should be worried that we are staying hydrated and cool, making sure Landon has a hat on and not worrying about having a sweater and if we need to wear shoes and socks. I'm sure the days I am wishing for will be here before I know it. Then I will be complaining it's too hot to even step outside. I'd better put my slippers on and cuddle back up on the couch. We have a birthday party to go to soon, I wonder if we need a sweater?

Big Boy Bed

So we called the furniture store yesterday to see if the bed and dresser was in yet. Well, they said it looks like it will be in May 8th or something like that. What the heck? When we purchased it they said 2-6 weeks. Greg was ticked. We got a phone call later in the evening and they said they were really sorry and they want us to be happy so they wanted to throw in the mattresses. We've already purchased some, so they are wanting to hook us up with something. I think I am going to ask for them to throw in the mirror, or the nightstand. We shall see.

So I decided since the mattresses are just sitting in the room why not put them in his room on the floor? So I did. Landon was super excited about it!!! I love the quilt too.

It looks so boxy doesn't it? The bed is actually really really comfortable! Landon played in the room and totally loved the mess that was going on. He was having a blast.

Can you see him in the above picture??

After putting the bed together it was lunch time. I have a hard time trying to think of meals for Landon. I want to make sure he is eating a balanced meal. Sometimes I end up throwing half his meal away, sometimes he eats everything.....

He got to take a nap in his bed today as well.

I had some errands to run this afternoon so as soon as Landon went down for a nap I left. Greg hung out around the house and then when Landon woke up they went to a movie. Anywho, I went to Kohls, Ross, Michaels, Target and Albertson's. I am making a Thank-you basket for a friend. In the mean time I found some sheets at Ross.

They are exactly what I was wanting online, but for $99 bucks. I spent only $14.99. I think they look good. What do you think??

Michael's also had some really cute storage baskets and tubs. I got this one for Landon's room.

And this is the basket I made.

(The inside bottom is paper shreds and chocolates.)

Tomorrow we have a birthday party to go to. I just hope this rain stops!

We're home!

Yesterday morning we checked out of our hotel in Corpus and headed back to Austin. We made a stop in San Marcos to go to a few outlet stores. Well, of course, having a child things don't always go as planned. We got there, went to one store and Landon was super clingy and fussy. He felt warm. Poor guy. We got to Gap and he felt better and was still fussing. Next thing I know he was zonked out in my arms. We decided it was best to go. We stopped at Walgreens to get some Tylenoyl just in case he got a fever. He slept in the car to Oma's house.

We got to Oma's and he seemed ok. I gave him some Tylenoyl just to be safe. After about and hour he was running around like crazy, wanting to go outside to play. I asked if he was hungry and he said yes. I made him some chicken nuggest and fruit. He asked for more. Next thing we knew he ate 8, yes EIGHT chicken nuggets! He surely was feeling a lot better.

We ate dinner with Oma and decided to just stay the night and head home in the morning. We didn't feel like getting in the car for another 3 plus hours. We got up early and hit the road. It's still been dark and rainy here. We got home and unpacked the car and went to the Commissary. Landon fell asleep in my arms again. When we got home he of course didn't want to sleep. I fell asleep on the couch and he climbed up there with me...

It's nice to be home. The smell of our house when we first walked in, ahhh, it feels good to be back. Kitty was very happy to see us. I was worried about her while we were away. Aften came to check on her for us. Thanks Aften. Since we've been home Kitty hasn't left our side. She's been meowing and getting on the couch with us. Usually Kitty is pretty timid and keeps her distance. Not today! It's still hard to not have Luke here. I got really upset when I went to feed Kitty and only grabbed one bowl. I also got sad at dinner and Luke wasn't bugging us at the dinner table. He sure was a good cat, and we all miss him lots!

Corpus Day 2

We woke up with clouds in the sky. I saw some blue sky too, but it wasn't very promising. We checked the weather online and 30min away in Port Aransas it was sunny! Shoot, we packed the ice chest, our swim suits, towels, sand toys and sunscreen and hit the road! It was sunny, and warm, and windy. It was great!

I do remember all the nasty seaweed that was on the beach here. Landon didn't like it at first. He told us he was scared and didn't like it to touch his feet. (I didn't blame him) So we put his crocs on and he was ok.

Then Landon and Greg did the Baywatch and ran to the water!

Landon hesitated at first, played in the sand and collected shells, he liked when the water hit his feet, he lost his balance a few times which was funny. Do you remember when you were little and the waves would come up, and when they would go back down it felt like you were moving, or being sucked into the ground? I think he was feeling that and he lots his balance several times. Next thing we knew he was in the water and LOVING it!

I kept seeing some weird bubble looking things in the seaweed. I was poking it will a shovel and it was just weird. At one point the further I walked, the more of those weird bubbles were popping up in the seaweed. Then Greg and Landon slowly followed me and we saw one wash up. It was a jellyfish. Greg looked then up online when we got home and looks like what we were seeing were Man O War.

So weird. I got creeped out, and I think Greg did too so they were pretty much done in the water. I didn't want the water to get on my feet, and I was walking along the water and weeds. I also had bread in my hands and I was being chased by birds! Dang things. I was so scared I started running and screaming. I didn't want the waves to wash a jelly fish on me and I didn't want to walk in the seaweeds because of the jelly fish in them and the birds were hoovering over me! Greg was cracking up laughing at me!

Greg and Landon made a sandcastle and we also collected sea shells. There were tons of them! Mainly little ones though.

Bye bye Port Aransas! We had a great time, it was just what we needed, some time at the beach! There is nothing more relaxing then the sun shinning down on you and the sound of the ocean! (Landon zonked out on the way home.)

We came home, cleaned up and went to the USS Lexington. It was just a quick walk from the hotel.

The Lexington was very interesting for Greg and I. I was really fascinated with it. We walked around for about 2 1/2 hours checking it all out. The camera battery died shortly after we got there darn it. But it was great. I am so nosey so it was very cool to walk around and see it all. When we got done we wen to a shop by the hotel and I started to feeling sick. I guess I got a little sick from being on the ship. I laid down for a few minutes and I was good to go. Weird, I guess I didn't have sea legs, or land legs. Whatever you want to call it.

We went to dinner at a place called Landry's. Greg was dying for some seafood.

I had a blackened chicken salad, Greg had grilled salmon and Landon had fries and a corn dog. He fell asleep too, and then Greg and I enjoyed some hot brownies with ice cream, whip cream and chocolate. MMMM!

After stuffing ourselves we went to Toys R Us to walk around and get a birthday gift. It's bed time. We are headed back to Austin tomorrorw morning. I think we will stop at the outlets again. We only went to like 3 stores on Sunday. Did I tell you we have a sleep number bed at our hotel? Well, we do. And it's pretty cool. Greg says it looks like I am sunk in the bed, I think I have it at 30 or 35. I'd better go figure out my sleep number. What's yours?

(Our hotel, the Raddisson)