Fancy Hotdogs

Some of my family's favorite meals have come about when I was missing something that we normally use and was forced to get a little creative. One of those favorites are these fancy hotdogs or as we've started calling them "Wrapped Hotdogs".

It was John's closing night and my kids had requested hotdogs for dinner...a nice easy meal, no problem. I had a package of Hebrew National beef franks...our favorite brand but no hotdog buns. My usual solution to this very common dilemma would be to whip up some mac & cheese with octopus hotdogs...so cute.

Well this use to work when the kids were little but they've decide that they're now too old for my funny recipes anymore...so sad. Anyways, I thought for a second about making hotdog sandwiches...something my mom used to make for me and my siblings when she too found herself bun-less.

Then I noticed a package of Pillsbury breadsticks in the refrigerator... Jackpot! I wrapped each uncooked hotdog with two pieces of breadstick dough...starting in the middle with each piece and working toward the edges. I cooked them according to the settings on the dough packaging and just when the bread started turning golden brown I took them out and brushed the tops with melted butter and sprinkled garlic powder and a little sea salt on each one. Then I returned them to the oven to brown for a few more minutes. These giant pigs in a blanket were so yummy and everyone gobbled them up. I've now made them on three different occasions and each time they've been a big hit.

The Best Gift Ever!

I've always been a morning girl...but not today. This morning I could hardly bring myself to get out of bed and start my day. It wasn't due to the weather because its absolutely lovely outside and no I'm not sick, in fact I've been feeling rather good lately. Getting up would mean that my perfect 3 day weekend spent with my hubby had officially come to an end. That's right 3 full days!!

No, we weren't on some exciting vacation just the two of us...we just both took an extra day off work.

Yes, there were always kids around...our three plus the usual one or two extras....but the more the merrier at our house.

No, there weren't any romantic candle light dinners...although we sure enjoyed relaxing and watching football at Buffalo Wild Wings even if one of our kids was very grumpy at the time.

Yes, there were a few soccer games to attend...but watching and cheering on your children is such a joy and at the last game it got a little chilly so we held hands.

No, the TV wasn't turned off 100% of the time...but the Presidential Debate was very important and the conversations afterward were quite intriguing.

Yes, there were plenty of things to do around the house...but scraping old paint off the deck can actually be kind of sexy at times.

No, there wasn't a lot of alone time...although we did manage to sneak out late last night for an impromptu date night and I did keep gripping his arm during the action parts in Eagle Eye.

Yes, we even did a little shopping together...actually I got a nice surprise visit in the produce dept when I turned around he was there having decided to wake up early and come shopping with me after all and then proceeded to push my cart and even helped bag the groceries.

No gifts, no frills, not one fight (even while we were fixing something I broke)...just time...his time...the best gift ever!

A blissful Weekend

Friday late night dinner at Village Inn

sunny Saturday morning soccer games

lunch at the Smiling Moose (yum)

ice cream at Baskin Robbins (yummy)

a 5:00 cat nap in the warm sunshine

an evening spent at the Corn Maze with all our friends

a girls only sleepover night

7 am grocery shopping with 3 crazy girls in their PJ's

donuts and giggles served up for breakfast

waiting 30 minutes for 3 stylish girls to get dressed

manicures and pedicures for me and 3 very ticklish girls

3 boxes of fall decorations and past halloween costumes pulled from the crawl space

an hour spent trying on different crazy costume combinations

Darth-Teletubbie anyone?

a crockpot of spicy chili and a basket of mini cornbread loaves

lounging on the sofa with my sweetie watching football (Go Broncos)

a Halloween decked out house 6 weeks early

Hurricane Ike Pictures

Here are some of the pictures my parents took of the Harbor Walk Marina after Hurricane Ike.

Both of these two boats (above and below) were completely submerged...yes that's right there are boats missing in these pictures.

Yaga's sails were damaged.

Thankfully everyone made it safely through the storm.

Colorado Rapids Game

Yesterday we took Cameron to the Colorado Rapids game for his birthday. It was a great game and the Rapids beat the Chicago Fire 2-0...what a birthday treat!
It was such a beautiful day and the weather was absolutely perfect. We ended up sitting with some of the families from Zach's soccer team.

The stadium cleared out after the game...we stuck around enjoying the lovely blue sky!

After the game we stopped by a yummy little deli for an early dinner and I snapped these pictures that the boys have nicknamed the Evil Sister Portraits.

They say this is how she is with them most of the time.

Funny...she always seems so sweet to me.

Hurricane Ike Update

I just wanted to post a quick update on all my family living down in Texas. As some of you know my parents live 25% of their time on a 40ft sailboat in Galveston, TX. Thankfully they safely rode out the storm in their 3rd level apartment in Sugar Land which is about 40 miles inland. They along with most everyone in the storms path are currently without power. There were a lot of downed trees and powerlines and major flooding in most areas. Yesterday after a majority of the storm had past they made the drive down to the Harbor Walk Marina through a lot of high water and past tons of debris and destruction. The scene at the Marina was extremely heartbreaking for my parents. About 50% of the boats (many boats estimated in the millions) were either under water, stranded on land or sitting stacked on top of other boats that were now completely submerged. Much to their surprise their boat Yaga was mercifully still tied to the dock floating above water (thankfully they have floating docks plus my dad is an expert at tying knots). She made it through the storm in one piece but was pretty banged up…she’s got lots of cracks and cosmetic damage in the fiberglass on the hull and her sails were completely ripped to shreds. My parents are so thankful that their beloved home was spared because a lot of there friends at the Marina were not as fortunate. Not wanting to make the dangerous drive back to town they stayed the night on the boat…one bonus is that Yaga has a tank full of clean water and a generator so at least they had power. The initial report from my mom is that the rest of my family in Dickinson, Pasadena and up north in Huntsville and Trinity made it through the storm safely with relatively low property damage. Due to power outages and busy cell signals I have yet to hear from my friends from our old neighborhood in Clear Lake which by all news accounts was hit rather hard with high winds and storm surge.

Our hearts are sad today for the island of Galveston. Most of my childhood memories were made on that island as were a lot of wonderful memories with my own children: Mardi Gras, my grandpa teaching me how to water-ski in Offets Bayou, 4th of July fireworks over the water, fishing at San Luis pass, eating at Shrimp and Stuff, my grandparents house on Tiki Island, Moody Gardens…I could go on and on. Also as I have mentioned in early posts Galveston is the sight were two very special marriage proposals took place…my parents and my own. John bought the little sea shell ring he initially proposed to me with at Murdoch's, our favorite surf shop that was out over the water…that shop is now completely gone.

My mom will send me her pictures once she has internet access and I'll post them here as soon as I get them…in the meanwhile here are just a few of our Galveston and Clear Lake pictures from the past.

Murdochs we'll miss you!!

Motherhood is a lovely thing.

As the years have past and my children have grown older, I’ve frequently found myself lost in thought reflecting back on how it all started. With each passing year it’s becoming harder for me to recall all the details.

I try to remember what it was like being pregnant…the excitement of the news, the wonder of feeling their first movements, the beauty of seeing each of them months before their arrivals, the joy and worry of the preparation and planning and then I think back to each of their births…so very magical and yet so scary. I try to remember what it felt like the first time I heard them, saw them and finally held them in my arms.

The day to day activities of those first few months of their lives seem like a blur now…but with each of my children I can vividly remember those special middle of the night feedings spent holding their tiny hands while slowly rocking them back and forth. I can still feel them sleeping on my chest…their tiny hearts beating so much faster than my own. I get a lump in my throat when I recall the smell of their clean heads and the touch of their baby soft hair on my chin.

It’s the simple memories that make me tear up now…my first born Zachary sleeping in the arms of his new father, the endless smiles from my happy little Cameron, the crazy curls of my darling baby girl Ashley…the sight of all three of my little ones sound asleep in my bed…intertwined in each others arms.

Motherhood is a lovely thing.

Birthday Weekend Recap!

Happy Birthday to Ashley and Cameron!
Ashley turned 8 on Sunday and Cameron will be 9 next Tuesday.
(So...yes we have two 8 year olds right now.)

Friday
We started off the weekend Friday night with Ashley's birthday dinner...her chosen meal was ribs (her favorite) at Rib City Grill (one of our family's favorite spots). We all enjoyed the delicious food and then they sang Happy Birthday and brought out a gigantic piece of triple chocolate cake that was absolutely to die for. Ashley and Cameron dug in and the rest of us helped out a little.

Saturday
Saturday was of course soccer day. John and Courtney made the hour and a half trip up to Greeley to watch Zach’s game where unfortunately the team lost 2-0. I stayed in town and took Cameron and Ashley to their first games of the season. Ashley’s team (the Champion Chipmunks) won their game 4-2, with Ash scoring the first goal of the game. She was so excited! Next up was Cameron’s game and this season they are playing on the bigger fields but his team (the Golden Eagles) played awesome winning their game 9-2. The rest of the day was spent making birthday party preparations…like cake and goody bags. Ashley had 2 friends over for the night and we all stayed up late watching Matilda (I love that movie!).

Sunday

Sunday was party day!! We decided to combine Cameron and Ashley’s party this year and went to Monkey Bizness. It’s one of those indoor places with a giant inflatable slide (which was a huge hit), a cool obstacle course (which BTW I beat Courtney in our race), a huge play structure and a rock wall. We had 24 kids and they all had such a fun time, especially our two special birthday kiddos! Although I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids (see the slide pictures below).