Breakfast With the Sandhill Family

We had some breakfast guests this morning! Meet the Sandhill Family...mommy, daddy, and baby! These are Sandhill Cranes and they're everywhere around here. They are highly annoying birds to the natives around here, but we Texas folks think they're pretty darn amazing and we're fascinated by them, as you can see! The girls were outside eating donuts that were left over from a church event last night. Cary and I looked out the window and saw the girls feeding them pieces of their donuts, which I'm pretty sure is illegal, but the birds didn't seem to mind! And the mommy bird would take a piece and give it to her baby. So sweet! We thought they might not need to be eating donuts, so we got out some birdseeds for them instead and they ate that too. And for my Texas friends who are looking at this picture thinking..."Is that your neighbor's house behind you...where's the fence???" Um, yeah, fences aren't really a popular thing here in FL. I think it's bizarre too. Like my neighbors really want to look at the swingset, sandbox, and trampoline! Not sure why the no-fence thing is okay with people here. In Texas, you buy a house, it comes with a fence! You can't have without the other. It's like oreos and milk, peas and carrots, pizza and tomato sauce! So yeah, this has taken some getting used to for me. Having to walk the dog on a leash is getting old!

You may have to click on the picture to get a nice big, clear view!

They were covering their ears because these birds do make a very loud, squaky, pterodactyl type of sound, it's actually quite beautiful, but freaks out my kids. The birds had just seen Candice in the window so they were sqauking..."Big, spotted dog, about to eat us, fly, fly away, save yourselves..."

Things That Make You Go Grrrrrrrrrrr.....

I never knew until I started working at the church how many needy people there are in my community. Many of them want nothing to do with God or the church, but by golly when they're in need that's the first place they come for money! And we do have a benevolence ministry for that purpose, so we are able to meet a lot of needs which is great. But there is this one young man that comes often. In fact, he's a regular on the church property. I say, young, because he looks like he's about 20, but his 17 year old daughter was killed in a car accident last week so he has to be more like my age or older. Although I can't imagine having a 17 yr old, but I guess it's possible if I got started at the age of 17! This young man is somewhat mentally challenged...I think. It's hard to tell. He has tried to get numerous jobs but loses them due to his felony records or bad hygiene. I'm not sure if he's homeless. He certainly has a way of making people feel sorry for him. He's a master at that puppy dog face. Our church has helped him all we can and now I think he just comes around to get sympathy or a quick counseling session now and then or a free Wednesday night meal or something, not sure. Anyways, today he approached Cary and told him that he got a job at Checkers but that the supervisor said she was going to have to let him go if he didn't improve his hygiene. So my dear sweet husband felt sorry for him and went up to Checkers to put in a word with the manager for him, then he went to CVS and bought him a razor and some shaving cream, deodorant, soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste and I don't even know what else. But he said he wanted to do something nice so he threw in a Milky Way candy bar "just because". When he got back to the church, this young man was waiting for him and he gave him the bag of hygiene products and said, "Oh and there's a little snack in there for you too." The young man pulled out the candy bar and said, "What, you didn't get me a drink?!!!" My husband was so mad when he called me. You try to do something nice for someone...Grrrrr...

Memorial Day

I am not a fan of the Atlantic coast beaches for some reason. Too murky, too choppy, too crowded, yucky sand. But I needed a tropical fix and we refused to spend $80 bucks on gasoline to drive to St. Pete for the day. So we made the short drive to Melbourne instead. Despite it being too murky, too choppy, too crowded, and having yucky sand we still had a wonderful afternoon. And don't buy Winn Dixie brand sunscreen...if you want to get any sun! That stuff is bullet proof man! We came home just as white as we left.

Cary dug the girls a water hole and I looked over at them and saw them sitting just like this, sunning themselves. I'm not really sure where the learned the art of sun worshipping from....hmmm...

Then Lexi asked to wear my shades so she could look "like a mommy".

And yes, unfortnately, the sand that goes in the swimsuit must come out of the swimsuit...all over my freshly mopped bathroom floor.

Good Eats...Part 2

In the post below, "Good Eats", I told you all about the crazy scrumptuous feasts we've been having lately. Well, the feast continued this morning. PMS maybe? I don't know! We really don't eat like this all the time. I promise! But I think we've started a new family tradition. All holidays will hereby be known as "Crazy Waffle Topping Day" in our home. The girls opted for hot fudge with Reece's Pieces and whipped cream on their Texas waffles. (I told you of my aversion to maple syrup right? Totally NOT allowed in this house!)

I opted for the much more "healthy" option...strawberries (soaked in sugar water), bananas, hot fudge, and whipped cream! With a diet sprite...to cancel it all out!

Relax all you Sugar Natzi Moms! Sometimes, as Lexi says, "You just gotta jump in without your floaties!"

Live a little!

Good Eats

Now, being a product of the great state of Texas, I KNOW me some GOOD FOOD Y'ALL! When we found out we were moving to FL, I was excited about DisneyWorld and great beaches and palm trees AND GREAT SEAFOOD! But, there's just one problem....we don't really have seafood! When we came on our first official visit for an interview back in Sept '06, we asked the pastor where we could go for some great FL seafood and he said, "There's a Red Lobster near the mall." I just about croaked. Red Lobster? Come on! We have those in Dallas, hundreds of miles from an ocean! I mean S.E.A.F.O.O.D.!!!!!! I thought, I know this place is surrounded by salt water on 3 sides, there has GOT to be some good seafood nearby! Well, we do have The Catfish Place in town. That hardly qualifies to me as "seafood" since well, catfish, well, you know! I guess what I had in mind was more like a wooden shack up on stilts, where you can sit outside over the water and hear the seagulls and smell the saltwater in the air and listen to Jimmy Buffet music! So we headed to the coast, about 45 minutes away. Still no seafood!!! Apparently the Atlantic ocean doesn't have shrimp or fish or something??? We have since discovered that to fulfill our seafood fantasies, we really have to drive about an hour and a half the other direction, towards the gulf side, to get our seafood fix. Which, with our current gasoline crisis, is not going to happen any time soon! Oh, our favorite place is in St Pete. It's called Sea Critters. HOLY FREAKIN COW! So good! But...remember the great Publix meat sale I told you about? Well, I went! And I loaded up on SEAFOOD! The other meats like the steaks, ground beef, and chicken were still higher priced than Walmart even while on sale! So I didn't buy any of those. But I did get 2 pounds of crablegs and I got 2 shrimp rings, with some new pototatoes, sweet corn on the cob, and a watermelon (for $2.75 from the produce stand!) And folks, we had us some SEAFOOD last night! Oh, it was HEAVENLY! I kept eating and eating and eating. And it was a $20 meal easily, but we didn't have to spend $80 to drive to the beach and $40 on a restaurant meal, so I think $20 is pretty good for a meal such as this! It was so good, I'm actually considering going BACK to Publix before the sale ends and loading up AGAIN!

Today, before I went to church, I put a roast and some carrots in my slow cooker. Then after church, I made us some homemade mashed potatoes and cornbread in the cast iron skillet. YUMMO! It's been some good eatin' round here lately! Just call me Martha Stewart! Actually, please don't call me that! She's a little too uppity New Yorkerish for my liking. And her voice puts me to sleep. Call me Paula Deen! She's much more my style! And I did use a half stick of butter in my mashed potatoes...Y'ALL! Mmmm, mmmm, gonna go fix me some left overs now!

Is it a full moon??? Anyone???

Is it just me, or are your kids crazy lately too? I don't know WHAT is going on but my kids have been in trouble morning, noon, and night lately. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on in our lives and I don't think it's ME that's acting differently. Seems like every time they go through a phase like this, I later discover there was a full moon. Or at least, I'll use any excuse I can get!

Gotta run...we're going to our old house to move our swing set over FINALLY. Maybe they can go outside now and get all that energy out on the swingset. Last night, I was asking Lexi what she was thankful for at dinner. Long story, we had turkey and dressing, which makes me want to give thanks! Anyhoo, she said she was thankful for her toys and I said, "SO AM I!"

Oh and I'm on a quest to win a vacation! My friend, Angela, who came to visit a few weeks ago told me about the Beaches resorts where they have all the Sesame Street stuff for kids. AMAZING!!!! I checked out their website today (just to dream, not like we could afford it) and I entered to win a vacation. You should enter too and if you win, maybe we can go together! http://www.beaches.com/general/sesame.cfm I've been praying for a dreamy tropical vacation! I know God is not my geenie in a bottle or anything, but surely He wants me to have a vacation every now and then right? That's Biblical! Resting is Biblical! So if you come across any "enter to win a free vacation" sites, please send them my way! I have a feeling that's the only way I'll get a REAL vacation is to win one!

Guns Up...

In Texas, "Guns Up", is a Texas Tech thing. No, I haven't suddenly become a Texas Tech Red Raider fan or anything crazy like that, HOWEVER, we did attend a dinner show this weekend at Arabian Knights with a Texas Tech Red Raider graduate. And apparently Lexi was feelin' the Red Raider spirit cause the girl wanted a GUN! Our veternarian, who also happens to attend our church and is a Texas Tech grad, invited us to this charity event that her vet office was helping to sponsor. The show was a tribute to the Wild West. Lexi won some tickets playing games and guess what she wanted to "buy" with her tickets....A GUN! Not a princess crown, or a sheriff's badge, or a cute keychain, or a stuffed animal. Girlfriend wanted a gun! I see no harm in toy guns (GASP! I know!) I had a few cap guns myself as a young girl and I'm not like overly agressive or a husband beater or anything crazy like that. (Well, I'm crazy, crazy enough that my husband would probably never buy me a gun!) When we got home, Lexi threw a cryin' fit because she didn't have any cowgirl boots to go with her gun. Not sure why guns and boots go together but apparently they're like peas and carrots. So Granny left her some money to go buy some boots, which we did yesterday. She wore them to school today, which I kind of knew might result in a little teasing cause you know, it's Florida, not Texas, but teasing is after all, CHARACTER BUILDING in my opinion, so I let her wear her boots and she was darn cute. When I picked her up from school she said she did get teased and they said she looked like a boy! But she said, "I think they're just jealous Mommy! Can I wear them again tomorrow?" That's my girl! Cowgirl with an attitude!

Before the show...Princess Lexi

After the show...
Well, does this picture really need a caption?

Ballet Recital

Lexi had her ballet recital this past Sunday during church. I think I've mentioned that she took lessons this past semester from a girl in our church who only charges a fraction of the amount it would cost to take from a studio and she's GREAT and is awesome with the kids! Since 3 of the girls already had tutus from Lexi & Ashton's birthday party, we thought it would be cute to just make a few more for the other girls, all different colors and that's what they danced in. So my tutu making skills were put to the test yet again, but they all turned out so cute and the girls did a great job!