Jordan's Artwork

Jordan knows how much we love pandas, so he surprised me with this drawing. He is so perfect!

PANDA STYLE!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am most grateful for this! I love my life!

Happy Turkey Day!

Geaux Saints!

My dad came up from Miami to see us for the weekend and we had a blast! I had not seen him in awhile and it was great to finally get together. We went to some yummy restaurants, went fishing and got to see the Saints play the Bucs here in Tampa. It was a great game! We beat them 36-7 which means we are now 10-0 baby! We freaking LOVE the Saints and I am proud that they are my hometown team. Who Dat!

I have attached a few pics of our weekend. Hope ya'll had a great one too!

Nolan's gun holder

Notice the gun tucked into the diaper? I do.

Halloween Costumes

We finally got around to getting the boys their costumes and decorating the house spooky (as the boys say).

Jordan at first wanted to be Batman again, then Indiana Jones and now Wolverine. Nolan wanted to be whatever Jordan would let him be. He wanted to be Bumble Bee from Transformers, but changed his mind last minute when he saw TMNT costume.

I let them wear their costumes for a bit yesterday and as soon as they put them on, they started beating each other. And when I mean beating I mean BEATING! They don't know how to pretend fight. They get really into it. It scares me sometimes. Crazy boys! I sometimes wonder if I had girls if they would be doing the same thing but in princess costumes. Probably not.

What are your holiday plans?

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Finally it is starting to feel more like Fall here. It has been raining since early early this morning. It is breezy and cool outside. I love it! Last week it was super humid and in the mid 90's; until today it did not feel like Fall or that it was coming soon. I LOVE this time of year; pumpkins, breezes, Halloween decoration and knowing that Thanksgiving is coming soon. I want Thanksgiving dinner NOW!

Since I have been in a calm, snuggly fall feel I decided I wanted to cook something that felt like the time of year. I came across this yummy looking Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe, courtesy of Giada and it seemed perfect.

UPDATE: I finally made this dish and it really is an amazing Fall dish. Next time I think I will add fresh garlic and ground turkey. Very yummy!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 amaretti cookies, crumbled
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• Pinch nutmeg
• 3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
• 12 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg. Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. Add the basil and blend until smooth. Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Do any of you have a favorite Fall dish?

Have a great weekend!

Wii rules according to our 5 year old

Today I overheard Jordan and Nolan "discussing" why Nolan is not allowed to play the Wii. Ryan and I did not make this rule, Jordan did. We have been having a lot of issues with Jordan not wanting to share his Wii with his younger brother. We have caught ourselves bribing Jordan with treats, money, games, movies, no school, etc. IF he will share his Wii with Nolan. This still has not worked out for us, cause our kids are smarter than us. Anyway, back to the "discussing" part. I heard Jordan telling Nolan HIS new set of rules for playing the Wii and I had to share.

1. If you touch my Wii and your hands are dirty, you are not playing.
2. Do not pee on the couch.
3. Do not pee in your diaper while you are by the Wii
4. You can never be Batman, only Robin
5. You better learn to follow me
6. If you do any of these, I will spank you until you get a rash!

Nolan pulls out his pacifier from his mouth and says "I have poo".

Pumpkin Parfaits

I am so obsessed with pumpkin pie (actually pumpkin anything)that pumpkin pie is really the main thing I look forward to at Thanksgiving. Once I ate a whole pumpkin pie IN ONE DAY. True story. Anyway, I came across this recipe on Gourmet.com and this has given me the itch to make pumpkin everything. Where is my pumpkin latte? Mmmm pumpkin!

Here is the recipe:


* 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2 1/4 tsp)
* 1/4 cup cold water
* 1 (15-oz) can pure pumpkin
* 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 2 1/4 cups chilled heavy cream, divided
* 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
* 20 gingersnap cookies, coarsely crushed

*
Equipment:
8 (6- to 8-oz) glasses

*
Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small saucepan and let soften 1 minute. Bring to a bare simmer, stirring until gelatin has dissolved. Whisk together gelatin mixture, pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, and salt in a large bowl.
*
Beat 1 cup cream with 1/2 tsp vanilla until it holds soft peaks, then fold into pumpkin mixture gently but thoroughly.
*
Beat remaining 1 1/4 cups cream with remaining 1 tsp vanilla until it holds soft peaks.
*
Spoon about 1/4 cup pumpkin mixture into bottom of each glass, then sprinkle with some of cookies and top with about 2 Tbsp whipped cream. Repeat layers once, ending with cream.
*
Chill until set, at least 2 hours.

Cooks’ notes: Parfaits can be made 1 day ahead and chilled.

Do you think we could of removed the pacifier?

Make a Smilebox greeting

I think I already posted these, but thought I would make them look cuter with music.

Jordan's Birthday Part One

Thank you to all who sent gifts for Jordan! He could not believe that people give him presents besides us and Santa. He was definitely spoiled this year.

We did a small celebration on his birthday and had a pool party with all our friends & his the next day. The day of his birthday we woke him up for school with a candle in a doughnut and an obnoxious Happy Birthday song. He was less than thrilled at first (I included a pic). He was grumpy because he knew he had to still go to school on his big day. We told him that we would be bringing treats for his class and he would be leaving early. That sure made him all hyper at 7am. We ended up dropping him off and the rest of us went out to breakfast, since we would be back to bring treats in 2 hours. It was nice to just go out to eat with Nolan. I think that was our first time. We did notice that he talks more when his brother is not around and very well behaved.

Anyway, we headed back to his school with ice cream sandwiches that Jordan choose the night before and we had Jordan pass them out to the whole class. The kids were so excited that they didn't care that the ice cream was melting faster than Jordan could pass them out. The kids were so thrilled and LOVED us for bringing them a treat! One of the girls said that I was the bestest mommy ever and later drew Jordan a picture telling him how much she loved him! I will scan the picture to show you.

After we got home, Jordan wanted to open his 1 and only present we got him. He had a pretty good idea of what he was getting and couldn't wait any longer. (See pics)

We did baseball cupcakes and Mcdonald's for dinner. Jordan's choosing.

Stay tuned for more on his party! Have to go break up a fight over the Wii:)

Vincenzo Rizzo - Original Watercolors

I came across these today and I LOVE his style of painting! Can you tell who is in each painting? I want these, but again, another thing I don't need.

Please go check out his store on Etsy.

Jordan SAY WHAT?

I didn't think this time would come for a few more years, but I was wrong.
......

Today Jordan asked about the S.E.X word. And when I mean asked he said "Mom, why do you and dad have so much sex? Um, I am pretty much still in shock. I mean what do you say when your child says that to you? I haven't even had time to rehearse this, let alone come up with a good response. My first thought was "I knew it, your teacher is a pedophile because I didn't check her background", but I knew that I was overreacting, so the first thing out of my mouth was "What? Sex? We don't do that; I don't even know what that is. The boys start laughing like a giggly school girl and I tried to change the subject. "Heeey....yooouuu....guuuuyyys...want some treats when we get home?". The whole time I am thinking "where in the hell is their father when I am asked questions like this".

For the record - we do not have a lot of sex, cause if we did I think I would know about it and I would tell you:)

So I need advice. Have any of you been put in this kind of situation and if so, what was your response?

I am too young for this.

P.S. Would it be wrong to put this in his baby book? We have hit another milestone:(

Gourmet.Daily

I am excited to share this with ya'll today!

Ryan just added another piece to his growing puzzle. He always amazes me with the things he comes up with. I think he is truly a genius! Thanks Howells for your great genes!

The site is called Gourmaily. We will be choosing one unique gourmet food company DAILY to review. Gourmet.Daily. AWESOME freaking name! imo

The reason I am so excited, besides the fact that Ryan started this, is that he asked me to help him run it. I will help in choosing the companies and adding the info to the site!

I have a couple of companies in mind to start. I will choose them strictly on their uniqueness and packaging. If you know of any Gourmet food companies that fit this description, please email me.

Check out the site and let me know what you think. I hope you like! Add it to your RSS to stay up to date on the hottest gourmet products.

Have a Gourmet Day!

Welcomed home with chocolate cake

I have to say that I have the most awesome spouse and kids ever! I am not just now realizing it; I am just now telling everyone I know.

While I was at the fashion show, Ryan and the boys were home cleaning the house AND baking me a chocolate cake. When I came in the door, I was greeted with excited, screaming kids. They were so excited to see me, that you would have thought I was gone for a week and not 4 hours. It was so sweet! They showed me how they cleaned their room and helped daddy do the dishes and Nolan was excited to tell me that he helped daddy stir the cake.

Gosh, I think I need to leave them home with daddy more:)

By the way, cake is way better when you are Superman! Don't believe me? Ask Jordan

Labor Day weekend

We had a wonderful weekend filled with friends, food, drinks, fashion and ponies. What did ya'll do for Labor Day weekend?

Saturday we met up with some friends at a carnival in Oldsmar. The boys rode ponies for the first time ever. We were unsure of how they would do, but they LOVED it! The boys had so much fun riding them, that we used all our tickets on the ponies instead of any rides.

Sunday I met up with a close friend of mine and we hit up the fashion show that came to Clearwater. It was my first show and it was a blast! Picked up a adorable boy face necklace at the sample sale.

Monday we had the same friends come over for a bbq and pool party. Pretty relaxing long weekend. More pics to come.

Tuesday morning Ryan and I woke up with a sore throat and body aches, so the boys have passed on their sickness to us. Thanks boys! Next time Jordan, NO kissing me on my lips:)

Hope you had a great Labor Day!

Trying it out

We have been wanting an ottoman for our living room, instead of the black distress country coffee table that we bought YEARS ago. Leather ottomans are pretty expensive, so I had been looking on Craigslist for a used one.

We ended up finding one for $100 bucks and jumped on it right away. The couple was moving out of the country and desperate to get rid of all their belongings.

Here is Nolan trying it out. I guess it was so comfy that he fell asleep.

Amazing Grass

Sorry for anyone who thought this post was about something else.


So our kids have been sick lately. Jordan has been in school for 5 days now and has been home for a total of 3 days. This child has caught 2 different sicknesses in 1 week. First it was stomach flu and when he came home on Monday he had a really bad cough and sore throat. I am about to pull my hair out, because now Nolan is sick too. He had a really high fever last night and I was having severe anxiety about this. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am already a very anxious person, so to add this on top of it makes me feel like I need to be comatosed.

So it is Wednesday and he has missed another day. I stress in the morning about calling his school to tell him if it is okay that I keep him home again. I feel like I am calling into work sick and worrying that they are gonna tell me to come in anyway or I am fired.

Anyway, I was doing some research on things that can help "boost" his immune system and I came across this awesome stuff. This company called AMAZING GRASS. They have chocolate milk powder that you mix with milk and it has all their fruits and veggies, plus wheat grass in it. I called Ryan right away when I saw that our health food store sells it, so he could get it on the way home. I must say, this stuff is AWESOME! Our boys LOVE it! It really tastes like chocolate milk. While they were drinking it down, I was beaming with excitement, because OUR kids were drinking VEGETABLES! Jordan just drank a zucchini and he didn't even know it. AWESOME!

I am hoping that by giving this to him everyday will start to help boost his immune system.

Anyone who has kids who do not eat the recommended daily dose of fruits and vegetables needs to get this. They also have it for adults too. I think I might try.

Taga

This is the coolest thing ever! Have you seen the latest european invention. Hope they come to the states soon.

Four years Later

Yesterday was the 4 year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I can still remember it as if it were yesterday. I wonder if over time I will not get teary eyed when I think about what we saw and went through.

I will always remember this day and will remember it well. Those who don't know me, don't know what we went through on August 29th 2005 through September 2, 2005. This was the scariest, most surreal thing we have ever gone through. Thank goodness for my dad, because with out him, who knows what would of happened.

I will say that I am grateful for going through a catastrophe such as Katrina, cause I have a new appreciation for a lot of things. I can say that I no longer see tangible items the same, except for pictures, as I once did. Within minutes I had to decide if an item was worth taking or leaving. Pretty much everything besides a few clothes, diapers, some pictures ( we had to go back for those) we left. Nothing else mattered to us at that moment.

We honestly thought that the storm would turn and we would be uncomfortable for a few days without electricity, but everything would return to normal and we would all go back to our lives. Little did we ALL know that this time it was going to be different.

We sat and watched the news while most of the city was evacuating. I remember watching the local news channels and the Mayor of New Orleans was BEGGING people to get out of the city because it was going to be really bad. They warned us that if something bad were to happen to us, there would be no one on the other line of 911 to help us. WE WERE ON OUR OWN. I remember questioning my dad, asking him why we were not evacuating like everyone else or going to the Superdome like others that were staying or could not afford to leave. He told me we were safer here, over taking the chance of getting hit by the storm in dead traffic or being in the dark with hundreds of people in the dome with a baby. He said he had chosen to live in that part of town because that part was above sea level; unlike most other parts of NOLA.

The storm came and passed and the whole time we were glued to the radio, listening to the only radio station that stayed on air. The radio host said that they could call the station to report things in their area. I will never forget hearing calls from people saying that they were in their attics and the water was rising and to help them. One call in specific that I remember; a lady called in, panicking saying that the water was coming in and they headed to the attic with their 9 day old baby, 5 year old and grandparents. She said the water was coming in and was crying for someone to help them. The radio host asked if they had an axe so they could cut open the roof. They lady screamed no, but to hurry and help them because it was waist high in the attic. The host didn't know what to say, but asked for her address and said they would do the best they could to try and help them. The problem was that there was so much water in that part of town, that you couldn't really tell what street were what. I remember her begging on the phone and suddenly the line went dead. After that, I felt like I was in a third world country. How in the hell could this be happening to us. We live in AMERICA! I tried calling my mom to tell her that I loved her because I had gotten in a huge fight with her the month prior and wanted to make sure she knew that if something were to happen to us that I loved her. The phone lines were down. We had zero contact with the outside world. We wondered if anyone even knew what we were going through.

At that point, we did not know what the city looked like. We heard that there was severe water in the 9th ward, but clueless to the rest of the area. After the winds died down we all went outside to see the damage. In our area it was completely dry. Just damage from the wind. Little did we know, that the levees broke and the city was flooding. I remember looking out my dads window right after the storm passed and seeing people running down the street to the famous Wal mart that got looted. They were coming back with carts full of electronics and everything else that was of no use to them now. We had cops coming to our building looking for people who stayed and also looking for food, water and ways to charge their radios. The building had a generator that would light the halls only and we would run it for 2 hours a day. We were the officers only way of communicating. There were no other ways for them to charge their radios. So they would come over and use the electricity in our halls.

We had permission before the storm to go in other residents units and get water and food if we needed. There were about 20 of us total in the building that stayed and we all took turns going into units and getting food out of the freezers to grill, since it would go bad anyway. I remember getting low on diapers and looking in every unit, praying that someone had baby diapers. No such luck.

At night it was extremely hot! We could not sleep; the heat was overwhelming. There was zero wind. Very black outside and no sound. Jordan would wake up every 30 minutes crying because he was sweating so bad. I would go in the kitchen and try to find something cool in the freezer to put on him to help cool him down. All Jordan wanted to do was nurse, but that made it worst since it made me feel I was being suffocated. I remember feeling like I couldn't handle it anymore and started to break down. It was becoming unbearable. As soon as I would start to doze off, we would hear gun shots. I kept asking my dad what it was and he told me it was people unloading stuff off trucks. I knew that wasn't true, but I knew he said that so I wouldn't freak out. The next day, we booby trap the main entrance/exit that we knew would be an easy way for looters to get in. We had heard from the officers that they were breaking in everywhere and starting fires. One man in the building had a gun and the men took turns with it at night staying up keeping a look out for looters.

On the last night we were there, I remember thinking that I can not stand another night here. We were scared for our lives AND I had a baby. The officers planned a meeting the next morning and informed us all that it was getting worst and no longer safe for us to stay here. They said the gun shots we heard the night prior, was a gun war between looters and officers. An officer was shot in the head. We still have a bullet shell from that incident. We were told that if we leave, we should leave in groups to lessen the chance of someone killing us and taking our car. There were reports of men running onto the roads so people had to stop and they would shoot and kill them and take their cars. My dad decided that we would be leaving at noon and anyone that wanted to leave with us had to be ready by then. I remember it was a crazy feeling knowing that we were leaving but unsure how it was gonna look once we left behind our gates.

We parked our cars in the hotel parking garage next door to my dads building, so we would make sure it was away from wind and water. We had to go get the cars but started to see a whole lot of people coming from the Superdome and heading to the convention center, which is pretty much right across the street from where we were. People were pulling their kids in plastic bins across the concrete with sheets tied to one handle. I remember seeing how exhausted and sweating they were. Everyone was walking around like zombies. Babies were screaming because they were hungry, hot, dehydrated. Everyone in the Superdome got word that there was food and water at the convention center, so they all gravitated there. Which was not true. There was still no help on the last day that we were there. I believe it took another day or 2 before there was help.

My dad had to go get the car so we could leave, but was worried that someone would kill him, so he took the gun and held it up in the air as he ran to get the car.I am bawling and shaking at this point, scared behind the gate hoping that someone doesn't hurt my dad or try and jump the gate while my dad is gone with the gun. I hear screeching tires and my dad bangs on the gate for me to let him back in. We were smart and brought all our belongs down my the gate first, so once we got the car we would throw everything in and leave. My dad held the gun up in the air as Ryan put everything we had into the car. My dad did not have enough time to get Jordan's car seat out of our car, so we had to drive without one. Ryan loaded everything in and no one else was ready to leave, so we left by ourselves. I still remember the first feeling of air conditioning hitting me after being without for days. Jordan fell asleep right away from exhaustion.

My dad drove I think 70 down a 30 mile zone. He said he was not stopping for anyone in fear of what the officers warned us about. He was prepared to hit anyone that tried to stop us. As we were trying to get on the on-ramp that is when we saw hundreds of people and they were touching our car, like zombies in a movie. We finally got on the freeway that was clear from water or debris and I will never forget seeing this girl with only her bra on and shorts hiked up as high as could be, sweating and pushing a shopping cart with a baby screaming. I did not see anything in her cart except for the baby. No bottle, food, diaper, water NOTHING. I wanted to stop and help her, but knew that by doing so we could be risking our lives.

It took us two days to get to Florida, due to the roads being destoryed and debris all along the gulf coast. We stayed in Miami for a month and got word we could return home to see the damage. My grandparents lost pretty much everything in their home. Our condo was surprisingly fine. There were 72 units and 5 were okay. Ours were one of the five. And we even had a bottom floor.

Since then my grandparents have rebuilt their home. NOLA is coming back more and more everyday. Soon after, we bought a flooded home in New Orleans and remodeled it. We stayed a year and realized the crime and schools were really bad and decided that it was best for us to move with small children. Jordan 2 and a newborn. We now live in Clearwater Beach, Florida. We love it here, but I do miss the culture of NOLA.

Sorry this was such a long post. I have not documented this experience until now.

Thanks for reading!