All I can say is . . . speechless . . .

Unbelieveable

Michael W. Smith - Agnus Dei

BATH TIME!

YAY!! AIDAN!


How cute is this boy??????
Momma

Finally

I've had so much fun lately visting the FAM. I got to go see Lanie & John in Texas, which also means I got to see AIDAN & Jessica & David. YAY. Here are some pictures from that trip:




See that ball? He liked it! Everything from here on out will be measured by how much pleasure it brings to Aidan!

While I was at Lanie and John's we did some SERIOUS relaxing and goofing off, including, but not limited to, kicking Gannon's a$$.



Lanie, your house looks so nice! I love the new table and how organized everything is. Being broke also serves the purpose of minimizing the clutter!

We ate out at Pappadeaux's which was great. Yes, that is a Martini!! It was great too. Shimp Ettouffe ROCKS MY WORLD. Jessica came immediately after work and it was VERY COOL to have a night out. Aidan, however is not quite ready for spicy Cajun . . . next visit I'm sure he'll be up for the blackened catfish with chipotle.



I also got to try Fish Tacos. Good, but not eye roll back. Ditto for the fried cornbread. Guess I need to mexican up my palate.

So anyway it was super fun, but not long enough. Work SO gets in the way.

Oh! I forgot to mention what a lovely and relaxing time Lanie & I had on the drive to the airport!


Next time I'll let this guy take me!



Momma

INCREDIBLE EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS!

All I can say is WOW!
On Friday, after a particularly rough work week (including extra shifts at the hospital) I came out to Clarkson West (my full time job) to find this amazing "bouquet" from my sweet darling daughter (Jess):


HOW COOL IS THAT????

And this is the way it looked 30 mintues later:



We normally don't have this kind of classiness around here--it has to be a Texas import . . . What I want to know is what genius came up with this idea and why wasn't it me???

Thank you honey!!!! I loved it (and so did everyone at the office--they all think you are very cool (well that's mainly because of Aidan, but the fruit bouquet just sealed it!).

Love you!
Mommy

For Grandma! This will make you laugh

And I thought our dog was nutzo.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDAN!!!!

I STILL LOVE HALLOWEEN!

Ok, I can't seem to get past wanting my girls to stay 12 forever.

I went to the mall today trying to put together the "perfect" Hannah Montana costume to sell on eBay. What I didn't expect was the BUZZ I got. I suppose this is the reason I was so OCD about making your costumes--it would take me into the "ZONE"--you know, that place where you can fritter away hours and never come up for air, or to brush your teeth or (fill in the blank). Remember being Donald Duck Lanie? Do you know how long it took me to make the felt webbed feet?????????? Or how bought WonderWoman Jess? Capes? No problem. Wings? NO PROBLEM! The outfit had to be as close to perfect as humanly possible: no expense was spared--I remember putting in all nighters. All of this to avoid store bought CRAP. All of this to celebrate a satanic holiday!!

WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

Anyway, doin it again . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330176526958

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330176510564

The TWO best HANNAH MONTANA costumes money can buy.
Momma

Glitter Graphics!

Wow! YAY I'm finally getting it!

For Joey - God will make a way . . .

Ok, I'm a total blog slacker

But it's not my fault! First off, let me show you the great pictures from our visit to Dallas while Jess & David went to Cabo.

This is the precious one Art & I had the pleasure of caring for (aka Mr. Peepers):
















The most fun of all was gettin down carpet level and doing some serious block banging.

















This is Aiden's favorite toy. I still have the music from it buzzing around my head!

The other times that were really fun were our daily morning walks (sorry no pics, because we forgot the camera EVERY time!) and dinner time!


I can't tell you how fantastic it is to be a Grandma!

Some special visitors came while we were on baby duty:
This is "Nana" (David's mommy)

And this is aunt Lanie:

Uncle John was there too, but he was the only one who had presence of mind to take pictures, so we don't have one of the photographer himself! We had a nice meal together -- and totally pigged out on "Fake Crab with yellow sauce" (again, no pictures, but fake crab in yellow sauce doesn't look that good anyway).

We truly had a glorious time. The best part of all was when Aiden would crawl up into your lap and bury his head in your chest--his giant baby hugs. His smile and giggle made us absolutely melt!

We wore out Ashby completely -- holding Aidan like an airplane (flyin low) and chasing her around the house! He loved it! Poor Ashby!!!


And this picture tells it all.



Thanks Jess & David for letting us come and be a part of your precious little one's life! We have such blessed memories!
Momma

Carman - The Champion - live, late 80s

A blast from the past!

All I can say is the Truth Project has been AMAZING. So many doubts laid to rest. I'm totally convinced that it takes more faith NOT to believe. Seriously. Anyway, I'm digging out all my dusty & scratched cds such as:
Amy Grant
Ray Boltz
Harvest
Hosanna Integrity Worship CDS
Mighty God
The Lord Reigns
All Hail King Jesus
Steve Green
We Are Called
and
CARMAN!

As Lanie would say . . .
WOOT!
I hope I did the youtube thingy right so you'all can watch THE CHAMPION just for nostalgia sake!

Remember the line "you shut your face, I wrote the book". What fun we had at the Carman concerts! I got chills when I listened to this cd again. And Witches Invitation! It's all on youtube! My God. There's so much out there at our fingertips.

Hope the video posts. Enjoy!
Momma
(I guess once a fanatic, always a fanatic!)

Just in case the youtube doesn't work right -- here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3RqhIPYMpE

Tomato Tree

Remember this little guy back in June?


And now:


Still, no tomatoes! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I wish this weather would break. 97 today.

Update on Joey's surgery: Everything went very well. He's home and on bedrest for 3 days (I'm sure he'll go stark ravin mad). Maybe he can take up crochet.
Anyway, he's doing well and everyone keep the prayers going up for his complete recovery, & especially for help with his smoking cessation. That's going to be the toughest. I'll keep everybody posted.

Momma

If it's not one thing . . .

IT'S ANOTHER. Ok, so the cabbage loopers are exterminated. Thanks to industrial strenghth TRIAZICIDE. But now we have the weather. Apparently, if it gets hot enough (>90 degrees) the tomato pollen goes sterile. So instead of having a little tomato whereever there is a little yellow blossom, WE GOT NOTHING.

So Al Gore, we need some intervention.

I am happy to report however, that apparently ZUCCHINI loves the heat.

This is our first season's pick:



So while we were lamenting our lack of tomatoes and puny strawberries, the zucchini plant was making a MONSTER.

BTW, fried zucchini is to die for:

AND
It just so happens that I have the perfect tool for turning zucchini disks in the hot oil. It is the handy dandy EZ HOOK (a Quartzsite find!). It is brilliant in its simplicity:

and

IT IS:


which of course, explains its brilliant simplicity. To order online, go to EZHOOK.COM.









Art says he "afraid" of the E-Z Hook:


It does kinda look like an instrument of torture.

So anyway, here's the recipe girls for the best fried zucchini you've ever had:

MOMMA'S FRIED ZUCCHINI
1 honkin zucchini cut into 1/2 thick rounds
2 stale hoggie rolls, cuisinarted into fine crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesean
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup vegetable oil

Make three separate bowls up: in one put the cornstarch, in another put the beaten egg, lastly, mix up the breadcrumbs with the cheese & the salt & pepper & place in the third dish.

Take each 1/2 inch round of zucchini and press it into the cornstarch (to coat both sides), then dip the round into the egg, lastly press the disk into the bread crumb mixture.

Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over low-medium heat (you don't want the oil too hot, or it will burn the bread crumb covered rounds. You can test it by sprinking a few of the bread crumbs in the oil--if they spatter and turn black right away, it's too hot. If they just soak in the oil, it's not hot enough. They should sizzle, but not darken.)

Fry in oil until golden brown on one side, then turn and fry till the other side is golden brown too. Drain on paper towels. Eat until silly or fat or both.

YMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Jess, I hope you are feeling better. Lanie, call me! I miss you. Both of you girls--please pray for your brother. His surgery is this Tuesday which also happens to be Grandma C's birthday. Happy 73rd Birthday Grandma!!!

Talk to everyone soon,
Love,
Momma & Grandmomma

OK that's it. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
This is a "cabbage looper".

They call it a "looper" because it only has "feet" on the front of it's body and on the back. It moves along by humping it's back and scooting it's back "feet" up close to it's front "feet". It "loops" up it's body.













This is what it has done to our brussells sprouts.



This is MAXIMUM STRENGTH cabbage looper killer.


I'll let you know who wins.




On a happier note, we have some pretty flowers in the front:























And we have a tomato coming!



YAY!!! We should be overrun with veggies soon!

Home Again!

We're home from Nevada! We had a lovely time with Grandma & Grandpa C being lazy and enjoying fabulous food, entertainment & shopping! We arrived on 6/21/07 and were greeted with care packages & cold drinks (G&G's specialty). The weather was uhm, WARM, to say the least:



So most of the time, we hibernated in the cool airconditioning, enjoying wonderful feasts at every meal and catching up on the latest (with the friends and family).

Grandma had a full menu designed & printed and posted to the refrigertor. !!
A sample of some of the yummies we were indulged with:

Blueberry French Toast


Talapia Filets with Sugar Snap Peas (girls you absolutely have to try this--not only is it unbelievably delicious, it makes a lovely presentation too--company food!)


We didn't get a picture, rats, but the Shrimp Curry the first night was killer.

G&G took us to the dam to show us the new bridge they are building so traffic does not have to snake accross the narrow highway on top of Boulder Dam (or is it Hoover Dam, I can't ever remember.) Anyway, it's quite a marvel of engineering this new bridge. The pictures don't do it justice:






Don't know who the dude is with the white hair & sunglasses!













Of course we hit the mall:


and Art is learning the careful science of being a "bag boy" from the world's best.

Most of the time we just kicked back and jawed, watched movies or napped! The perfect vacation. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa!


P.S. I forgot to mention that G&G let us stay in the motor home (all tricked out with an oatmeal cookie stash & wine!) Grandpa had put the slideout out to open up the living room and it was very, very comfortable--and if you've ever slept in the motorhome bed, you probably remember it is like a cloud (as in Sheraton bed!) It was like having our own apartment right next door. PERFECT.

When can we do this again???????????????

Aidan & Mommy playin' at Grandmas!

This little cutie has stolen everyone's heart.
We love you Aidan!
GrandMomma

Aidan's Coming!

We have your room ready honey! But what's really cool is your

NEW HIGH CHAIR! Check it out:






See you tomorrow! We can't wait.

Alert to Moms with young children: (This means you Jess!)

Subject: Alcohol Hand Sanitizer and Children

Our dept. was just sent this message:
Ok. I don't know where to begin because the last 2 days of my life have been such a blur. Yesterday, my youngest daughter Halle who is 4 was rushed to the emergancy room by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent. He was called to her school by the school secretary for being "very VERY sick." He told me that when he arrived that Halle was barely sitting in the chair. She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them.
He immediately called me after he scooped her up and rushed her to the ER. When we got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays, every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal; nothing was out of the ordinary. The ER doctor told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was sending her to Saint Francis for further test.
When we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher had come to the ER and after questioning Halle 's classmates, we found out that she had licked hand sanitizer off her hand. Hand sanitizer, of all things. But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of different scents and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things in their mouths.
When we arrived at Saint Francis, we told the ER doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, which, yes we did get weird looks from it but they did it. The results were her blood alcohol level was 85% and this was 6 hours after we first took her. Theres no telling what it would have been if we would have tested it at the first ER.
Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken this out of the classrooms of all the lower grade classes but whats to stop middle and high schoolers too? After doing research off the internet, we have found out that it only takes 3 squirts of the stuff to be fatal in a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high was to compare someone her size to drinking something 120 proof. So please PLEASE don't disregard this because I don't ever want anyone to go thru what my family and I have gone thru. Today was a little better but not much. Please send this to everyone you know that has children or are having children. It doesn't matter what age. I just want people to know the dangers of this.

This comment is from Urban Legends and Folklore Regarding the Incident:

Comments: True. On May 14, 2007, Fox23-TV in Tulsa reported that 4-year-old Halle Butler of Okmulgee, Oklahoma was hospitalized with symptoms of intoxication after ingesting a small amount of hand sanitizer in her pre-kindergarten classroom.

The product, which consists of 62% ethyl alcohol (more than most hard liquors), had been applied to the children's hands by their teacher just before lunchtime, but instead of rubbing it in, Halle licked it off her skin and essentially got drunk. She was fine once the alcohol had worked its way through her system, but the incident threw such a fright into parents and administrators alike that further use of the product was banned in the school.

I should note that the email contains one apparent factual error (or perhaps it's only a typo), namely that the Halle 's blood alcohol level was measured at "85%" in the emergency room -- an impossibly high percentage. The author probably intended to write ".085"

A similar mishap was reported last January in Minneapolis , where 2-year-old Sydney Moe ate some of the hand sanitizer gel her mother kept by the sink and was rushed to the emergency room with a blood alcohol concentration of .10 percent -- legally drunk, by the statutes in most states. She, too, recovered quickly, but the Minnesota Poison Control Center warned that the high alcohol content of hand sanitizers and other common household products such as mouthwash and perfumes can pose a serious health threat to small children and should be kept out of their reach except under parental supervision. Some hand sanitizers contain isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol, making them even more dangerous to ingest.

Fat Belly

What what what???????????
Now my stomach flops up and down when I run on the treadmill? And it hurts?
THIS IS NEW! AND NOT GOOD!

Our new favorite recipe!

Seafood enchiladas! Holy God! These definitely make the cookbook. It's from Allrecipes.com but "tweaked". Here's the recipe if you feel like splurging. (Downside: if they are less than 1000 calories each I'll be surprised. Of course you can't eat just one . . .)

SEAFOOD ENCHILADAS

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound fresh crabmeat, chopped into ¾” chunks
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled, deviened & chopped into ¾” chunks
1 can diced green chiles
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
½ cup clam juice
1/2 cup butter, melted
5 tbs flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tbs chopped green onions

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large skillet, saute onions & garlic in 1 tablespoon butter until transparent. Remove the skillet from heat and stir in chopped crabmeat and shrimp & one half cup of the shredded cheddar cheese. Make up the sauce; 1/2 cup butter melted in a skillet, stir in 5 tbs flour until a paste forms, cook & stir one minute or so to take the “raw” taste from the flour (but do not brown the flour). Stir in two cups of cream and whisk, bringing to a simmer. Stir in ½ cup of clam juice. Stir in 1 tsp of chili powder; 1 tsp cumin and ½ tsp of cayenne pepper & 1 tsp salt. Carefully pour simmering liquid into large stirring bowl containing ½ cup sour cream. (This will keep the sour cream from curdling). Mix one quarter of this sauce with the fried crabmeat, shrimp & onion garlic. Place a large spoonful of the mixture into each tortilla. Roll the tortillas up around the mixture and arrange the rolled tortillas in a 9x13 inch baking dish. (6 lengthwize, 2 sideways and crammed in!)
Pour remainder of sauce over the enchiladas, and sprinkle the whole pan with remaining cheese. Garnish top with chopped green onions, & sliced black olives.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Serve garnished with avocado wedges.

Your men will rave. Mine did!

P.S. It helps a bunch to have a "shrimp" deveiner. Any kitchen supply has em, probably Williams-Sonoma too if you want to pay $25. HA!

Here's a picture of one--it's about 6" long: BTW, I wouldn't know of this if it wasn't for Grandma Cacace. Thank you Grandma for teaching me how to cook! Joey, Art, Scott & the rest of the "fam" thank you too!

LANIE'S Big Day is Coming

Lanie is running in Alaska soon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She's running to raise money to help the society continue their fight against leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. This scourge recently touched Elaine's life in a very personal way when John's mom was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2006. (I'm happy to report that she has completed chemo and the lymphoma is now in remission. Our prayers continue to go up that it will stay that way).

A few facts: Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $483 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. They believe that innovations in blood cancer research hold the keys to curing all cancers. Treatments such as chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, originally developed for leukemia, are now standard treatments for many cancers. In addition to research support, the Society offers support groups, financial aid, information and advocacy programs for patients and their families.

This is a worthwhile cause! I'm so proud of her for doing this! Anyone who reads this and wants to join the cause can send a donation to Elaine Wagner's local Society chapter:

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
North Texas Chapter
8111 LBJ Freeway, Suite 425
Dallas, TX 75251
Direct Line (972) 354 8316

We'll be cheering you on Lanie, and hope you can figure out a way to provide live video to us of the event.

Dates: June 23, 2007 - Saturday (the day after Elaine's bird-day)

Location: Anchorage, AK
This marathon has been called an adventure collector's running experience. With the Chugach Mountains on the east and the Cook Inlet on the west, this course provides a sense of the beauty and majesty that is Alaska.

WE LOVE YOU LANIE!!!