Thursday, January 20, 2011

When It Snows, We Play!

Tulsa actually got some snow today that stuck on the ground and was worth playing in! The girlz were so excited. The public schools were closed but of course, we did school anyway. I know - I'm a mean mommy. But after school we had some fun outside.


We met some friends at a park for sledding...


And we made some yummy snow ice cream. I posted this recipe last year on my blog and had stolen it from my friend, Brandi. 5 easy ingredients (easy - as long as you have snow!) and it really tasted yummy!






Then I made some potato soup for dinner. Here's the recipe from Allrecipes.com. My family loved it which surprised me because it was kind of healthy ;-)  I added chunks of ham to mine to satisfy my hubby, the meat lover.

Herbed Potato Soup



Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 stalks of celery
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed (I used oregano instead of rosemary)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:
Place potatoes and water in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until tender. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme, rosemary (or oregano), and pepper. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add potatoes with cooking liquid. Heat through.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Winter Wonder Wonder Slam 2011

Steve and I took the girlz and my nephew to see the Winter Wonder Slam last weekend. It was a great concert featuring House of Heroes, Brandon Heath, and Toby Mac. The kids love Toby Mac and had the best time dancing and singing to his songs. Here's a few pics from that night...


The finale...


Afte the concert, they got to meet Toby Mac's drummer, Brian Haley. They were star struck ;-)


Brian was passing out info promoting his new fashion line, "B It". Here's a video about his clothes...



It was a great concert and we hope he comes back again next year!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Oh Happy Day

As I have mentioned in the past, my girlz are HUGE American Girl fans. In fact, our homeschool curriculum is based on the American Girl books. For the last few years, they've had the Our Generation dolls from Target that look very similar to American Girl dolls but cost much less. I thought we'd start off with those and see how they did before we broke down and purchased the real AG dolls. They've been saving up for about a year now and finally had enough to buy one. I'm very proud of them for working so hard and saving their money.

So, we made the drive to Dallas yesterday to let them buy their dolls. Here's a pic of them sleeping the night before. They were so excited about going I'm surprised they even fell asleep!



They are going to kill me for putting those on but I love pictures of kids sleeping! ;-)

"M" crocheted cute little skirts, hats and scarves with matching ones for their new dolls for their big day. They turned out so super cute! The girlz had never seen a big city like Dallas so that was fun for them, too. They loved all the tall buildings and malls were everywhere.

The AG store in Dallas is at the Galleria so we went to purchase their dolls first then we went to the Galleria to look around - new dolls in tow, of course! Steve and I used to live in the Dallas area before we had the girls so it brought back fun memories of going to the Galleria for date nights. We then went back to the AG store for a late lunch. Steve was such a good sport - he was surrounded by pink, dolls and girls all day but he suffered through it like a champ! He joked that the portions of our lunch were "doll sized", too but he was still a trooper! ;-)


After we were done at the AG shop and the Galleria, we thought we'd show the girls the area where we used to live. This is the park we used to go running at all the time...


Spent many, many hours there! And this is the apartments we used to live at...






The girls enjoyed seeing a part of our past lives and it was fun to see how much Las Colinas has changed since we had been there last. It's probably a good thing they didn't have as many stores back then as they do now as we would have been broke!

Ha! I just found these pictures of me when I taught school at Grapevine Elementary...



Yes, another example of me and my many hairdos! ;-)

Such a fun day - we'll have to go back soon!

Background - By Lecrae (Featuring C-Lite)

This is new new favorite song & prayer for 2011...



Love these lyrics...

Chorus
I could play the background.
I could play the background.
Cuz I know sometimes I get in the way.
So won't You take the lead, lead, lead.
So won't You take the lead, lead, lead.
And I can play the background, background.
And You can take the lead.

Verse 1
It's evident You run the show so let me back down.
You take the leading role, and I'll play the background.
I know I miss my cues, know I forget my lines
I'm sticking to Your script, and I'm reading all Your signs.
I don't need my name in lights.
I don't need a starring role.
And why gain the whole wide world, if I'm just gon' loose my soul.
And my ways ain't purified, I'll live according to Your Word.
I can't endure this life without Your wisdom being heard.
So word to every dancer for a pop star
Cuz we all play the background, but mine's a rock star.
Yeah. So if you need me I'll be stage right.
Prayin' the whole world will start embracing stage fright.
So let me fall back and stop giving my suggestions
Cuz when I follow my obsessions I end up confessing.
That I'm not that impressive, matter fact I'm...
A trail of star dust leading to the superstar.

Chorus

Verse 2
I had a dream that I was captain of my soul.
I was master of my fate, lost control, and then I sank.
So I don't want to take the lead
Cuz I'm prone to make mistakes.
All these folks that follow me gon' end up in the wrong place.
So, just let me shadow You. And just let me trace Your lines.
Matter fact just take my pen.
Here, You create my rhymes.
Cuz if I do this by myself I'm scared that I'll succeed.
And no longer trust in You, cuz I only trust in me.
And see, that's how you end up headed to destruction.
Paving a road to nowhere. Pour your life out for nothing.
You pulled my card, I'm bluffing
You know what's in my hand.
Me I just roll to trust You to cause the dice to land.
I'm in control of nothing. Follow You at any cost.
Some call it sovereign will, all I know is You the boss.
And man I'm so at ease. I'm so content.
I play the background like it's an instrument.

Chorus

Bridge
I know I'm safest when I'm in Your will and trust Your Word.
And I know I'm dangerous when I trust myself; my vision blurred.
And I ain't got no time to play life's foolish games.
Got plenty aims but do they really glorify Your name.
And its a shame the way I want to do these things for You, yeah.
Don't even cling to You. Take time to sit and glean from You.
And its seems that You are patient in my ignorance.
If ignorance is bliss, its cuz she never heard of this.

Chorus (2x)