Happy Valentines Day

Meat on a Stick

What says I love you more than meat on a stick. I thought a lovely shishkabob dinner would be a fun way to eat and share our mutual adoration. I was right. Look how lovely they turned out! I used stew meat and chicken breasts. I marinated the chicken breasts in pineapple juice and the stew meat was a mixture of olive oil, garlic salt, kosher salt and of course tony chacheres.

Robert did the honor of grilling and we served them over a bed of dirty Cajun rice. Them Cajuns know how to love.
This was Friday Night, the 13th, kind of a prelude to our real celebration.

David is working on a research project about some of the great Texas Battles, in the great Revolutionary War. Not the one that started with a tea party in Boston, but before the war between the states. This was Texas' freedom from Mexico, specifically the Evil Santa Anna.

He could choose Gonzales, The Alamo (remember the Alamo), Goliad and San Jacinto. He didn't' care, so I chose for him and I chose Gonzales, where the revolution began with a flag saying, "come and get it" I thought it would be fun to go visit Gonzales and see the museum and the cannon etc. So Valentines Day we headed westbound on I-10, with the directions back home on the printer. I kind of remembered which exit to take, but I also figured it would be clearly marked, since it's such a big deal for Texas.

I was wrong, plus it was much farther away than I thought it was.

So for lunch we stopped just outside of Sealy at Mikeskas BBQ



Robert and I had been there before, back in the day ( we were still dating) . I couldn't even eat the food because of all the taxidermy hanging around, but since then I've had 4 children, I can eat anything, anywhere, so we stopped. You know a place is going to be good, if it has the menu on the outside!

Here is a sampling of the taxidermy, there were all kinds of animals. You get the feeling that you were eating a recently stuffed animal. It's creepy, but the food is excellent. We even met Mr. Mikeska, he talked to us and gave each of the kids a Susan B. Anthony dollar coin.
We ate brisket, sausage, chicken and sides of green beans and new potatoes. No french fries or Salad (poor Alice) but nobody complained. In fact I wondered out loud, "What are the poor people eating for lunch today?" IT was delicious.

Here is Alice our Vegan eating her Vegetarian BBQ Chicken-Yummo

Alice and Quentin enjoying Sausage and Brisket sandwiches

Robert sharing Green Beans with either me or Alice

The true worth of a BBQ joint is the all you can eat pickles. David loves pickles, he filled the Styrofoam up twice with pickles and managed to eat his whole sandwich and mot of Quentin's too.

Ya gotta love a place with stuffed polar bears handing out candy.

The only animal we did not see stuffed was the ever elusive jackalope, and believe me Robert combed the place looking for one. Jackalopes are real and they are indigenous to Texas.

Since there was candy, Joely would not look at the camera, she loves candy!!

Ok so we didn't make it to Gonzales, apparently it's closer to Seguin, so we turned around in Shulenburg and drove back home. When we were almost to Houston, David asked when we were going to stop in Gonzales. David is a mastermind at paying close attention to details, as long as they are in his handheld game.

We had fun anyway and we'll have to do the research the old fashioned way, on Wikapedia.

Alice's Chef Party

Putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes

Alice chose a delicous Brownie Cupcake, with Chocolate Ganache Frosting, topped with a strawberry. The Cupcake of Queens!

The party was such a blast! We were able to us the Crosby Community Center's kitchen for the extravaganza. It was perfect because there was plenty of room for the kids to make their pizzas and fruit salads, and then they could use the whole big room for running and silly fun. Plus my house was left unscatthed, I didn't have to worry about parking or limiting the guest list. Alice wanted to invite all of her friends from church, Romand and Logan, her classmates, and the girls in her dance class. I made 40 invites and 20 kiddos came.

I apologize for the lack of documentation. When you are ankle deep in the party, it's hard to remember the camera.

When the kids first arrived they were given an apron, chef hat and fabric markers. They stayed busy creating fun little works of art on their aprons. This doubled as their "goody bag" so instead of a bunch of candy and junky toys (that kids love and moms hate) they took home their aprons and hats.

This is a not so great picture of the kids doing their aprons, it is an AWESOME picture of Megan Love's beautiful profile.

Then the games began. With 20 kids (give or take) making pizzas, I needed all the help I could get. I'm so greatful for the moms that were ever so helpful. Diane and Galadriel kept everything going too, Diane was worried (and correctly so) that we would run out of time, so we got things started. We had to be all cleaned up and out of the Center by 9:00 PM or we would lose the 125.00 deposit. Galadriel cleaned up the kitchen after the pizzas and started the work on the fruit salads.

Here is Galadriel cutting up bananas and strawberries.

The kids who were interested made fruit salad parfaits with vanilla yogurt, bananas, blueberries, strawberries and granola- YUMMO-

Diane and Tom- this is after Diane gave her sweat equity in the kitchen
Robert was glad that Tom came, otherwise (using a direct quote here) "it would have been like a shower or something similiar" So thanks Tom for coming to the Party!

This is my friend Cindy, she was awesome to help too! Here she is pouring punch. I found a great idea at Walmart. They have zoo pal cups with lids, kind of like sippy cups. It was perfect and there wasn't any spills. I made a quick punch of Passion Fruit, Pinapple Juice and Ginger Ale. It was very refreshing. The kids loved it and especially loved the sippy cups with animals on it.
Simon Says, "Always have a quick and physical game you can pull out to keep the natives under control"
Robert was a quick thinker and got them playing Simon Says. That kept them busy until the pizzas were ready.

Here are some of the revelers enjoying their pizza and cupcakes.

All in all it was a fun party. Alice LOVED it. The boys had fun too. I'm glad that it went as well as I imagined. That usually does not happen. I"m more of a Clark Griswold, I imagine them to be much greater than what I actually pull off. I'm glad I had tons of help and that the kids were adorable and happy to participate!

Good Times! The last party I "threw" for Alice was when she turned three. I did a little tea party. It was fun but her birthday kind of falls at a crummy time to actually do a birthday party. Please don't worry, her grandmas (all four of them) make sure she's amply compensated with gifts, it's just I havn't been able to do a real party that often. For instance her first birthday Dorothy changed Christmas Eve to be a celebration for Alice. She slept through it but there was cake, ice cream and plenty of gifts in addition to the traditional christmas presents. Then on her actual birthday we were in Austin, so we ate at Hula Hut and gave her presents. Dad heated the pool so we could all swim. Her second Birthday we were ankle deep into a move to East Texas. Again her grandmas came through. My parents came to visit her and the other grandmas loaded up the van with additional presents for her to open on her birthday. Her third birthday I did the tea party, but waited until Valentines Day. Her fourth birthday, Grandma Dorothy threw her a party. Joely was two weeks old and I wasn't in any shape to plan anything other than feeding the baby. Last year she just wanted to be with Grandma "Farms" (my mom) so she ate at Chuys saw two movies and lived the good life. The reason I'm doing this rambling is because one day she'll complain that people forgot her birthday and well it's just not true, she may not have always had a traditional friends over party, but she most certainly never had a Birthmas party.

More exiting things to come... How the Mullens Celebrated Valentines Day with a Road trip to nowhere (but we did eat some good BBQ)

12 years, 13 years who is counting?

Robert and I celebrated twelve years of wedded bliss on Saturday the 31st. I had been going around saying 13 years but on Saturday I realized that we had been married almost two years when David was born so that would make him eleven and he's only ten, and then some rudimentary math later I realized that 2009-1997 is only 12 years, so although it feels like we've been married forever, it's only 12 short- fun filled years.

Technically we were married on the 27th, twelve months and one day from the day we met, but that was on a Tuesday night and who really wants to celebrate on a weeknight?
So we made a romantic getaway on Saturday, we stayed at the Intercontinental hotel near the Galleria. For Dinner we ate at a new to us Pappas restaurant called Yia Yia Mary's. IT was awesome Greek Food. We both ate different choices, for instance Robert didn't just get Fried Shrimp- he got a traditional Greek skewered meat. I ordered a lamb gyro (hero) and we shared this awesome sausage with fried tomatoes and feta as an appetizer. I made sure to save room for dessert and we shared an awesome chocolate cake drenched in raspberry sauce.

It was fun to get some time to ourselves. The kids all had fun. Quentin went to Uncle Bo and Aunt Tessie's house. Uncle Bo took him to the auto show and to the monster truck jam and then they later made cd's of the foo fighters and Kid Rock. Quentin also borrowed a ton of movies from Uncle Bo's extensive DVD collection. I was happy to watch Sleeping Beauty for the first time in ages. We have it on VHS but it's been years since our VCR worked.
David spent another fun filled weekend with Travis Anderson. Travis (and his parents) are very good friends of ours. They are VERY KIND to have David spend lots of nights with them. Travis is a wonderful kid, I call him "value added" when he comes to our house, he makes things easier. Everyone gets along and he is very polite and super funny. Alice and Joely were spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa Mullens. Originally Mom and Dad were supposed to visit, and keep the kids, but then their car got in an accident. Fortunately they were in a restaurant when it happened and only the car was hurt, but it suffered extensive damage and so they were unable to make the trip.
I'll blog about Alice's chef party later and upload some pictures. It was a smashing success, she had 20 little friends over playing, cooking, dancing, eating and competing in a Super Simon Says game (thanks to the quick thinking Robert)
I know I should get all mushy mushy and tell you all the great things about Robert, but I'm afraid many of you would go into some kind of diabetic coma. Suffice it to say that I am so happy to be married to him and that he's my "baby daddy" -- Seriously he's wonderful and we're wonderful together. I know our kids will one day realize what a special Dad they have. Right now they take all of his gracious giving for granted. He truly does think of all of us first.
I started painting the interior of our house, so I'll see how "lovey dovey" we continue during the "restoration" of the house.

Show of hands, who hated the dresses?

Our New First Lady, Michelle Obama

I'm sure most of you talked about her choices of dresses. I know I did. Last night at work everyone was up in arms because the dresses weren't awesome. Mrs. Obama always dresses so fashionable and with the exception of the dress she wore for the inaguration, hands down, everyone hated them.

But my question is, why should we care what she wears? She's so much more than her dresses. Here is what she has already accomplished in her professional life

Michelle's impressive resume includes: Former associate dean at the University of Chicago; a member of six boards of directors including the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Tree House Foods; and Vice President, Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals. In this position she was responsible for all programs and initiatives that involve the relationships between the hospitals and the community as well as management of the hospitals' business diversity program.

In any interview I've heard her say, "first and foremost I am am a mother."

I hope she gets more press for what she has done and what she will do rather than what is she wearing. I just don't think she's shallow and we as a country shouldn't be either.

It reminds me of when Kay Bailey Hutchinson was elected Senator from Texas. The Headline in the Austin (yes the capital paper) said, "UT Cheerleader wins Senate"

It did not list all of her many accomplishments, just the one she got from a popularity vote as Cheerleader for UT, when she was 20.

Have we really come a long way Baby?

Another name for her could be Cybil

Here she is crying.

I asked her and Quentin to pick up the manure.

And yes it's manure, with a dog the size of Sammi Jo (bless her thyroid challenged heart)

it's not merely dog poo, but manure.

You'd think she was crying because she had to clean up after Sammi.

But no, she was crying, no not just crying, SCREAMING and CRYING because

Quentin picked it all up quicker than she could get her shoes on and get outside.

He didn't leave her any poop to clean up.

Mean big brother

Nothing like a good case of sibling rivalry to get the dirty jobs done lickety split.

So the Good News is....

I finally bought a steam cleaner. The bad news was it was because I was ankle deep in vomit. Joely is still sick and the boys had a relapse yesterday. I kept them home today and it was only to my torment. I sent them to school yesterday only to have the nurse call me to pick them up at different times. They could have been at school today. I requested their WEEK'S WORTH of work. One teacher gave ONE WORKSHEET- David's math teacher gave him plenty of work, but his english/reading teacher sent nothing. Quentin's math teacher sent nothing. I gave them a full day in advance to get me the work.
I'm tired and bitter- lol

But I do love my steam cleaner. I'm certain Gala is happy that I won't be borrowing hers to clean up animal and human bodily fluids anymore. Bless her!!!

We had to cancel our trip to mom and dad's this weekend due to airborne illnesses, but we look forward to them coming to Alice's birthday party in a couple of weeks- She turned 6 last month, but who would want to come to a party on the 27th of December? Seriously- so we just postponed it until the end of this month. My friend Jo in Superior, CO (she just loves being Superior) has a business called Super Kids Cooking Classes, where she and her partner (business partner not life partner) teach cooking classes for all ages at YMCA's and community centers in the Superior (I think that's near Boulder or Denver or somethign like that) area. They also do birthday parties, so she told me how to pull this off and we are having a "Little Chef" themed party for Alice. We'll make pizzas, slushies and they'll decorate their own hats and aprons to take home with them along with some fun recipes to start their own cookbooks with.
I'm actually looking forward to this party. We are using the Crosby Community Center for it because they have a big kitchen and it's free! I'll be making the invites this weekend. I bought a cute tray yesterday at Target to hold the cupcakes. I am going to try and be all Adrienne Yanceyish and make fancy pants cupcakes.

I prefer the chum bucket is half full

Joely has been spewing in the nights the last four nights. She acts fine all day and then sometime in the night she gets sick- EVERYWHERE- seriously this morning I was holding her, she retched and then I just kind of waited for her head to turn completely around.
So tonight, I'm at work and Robert knew something was up, Quentin didn't want to eat. So he laid down on the couch with a chum bucket close at hand. That Chum bucket is now quite full.
Robert wakes up to the retched stench that can only come from deep down inside the stomach and parts of the stomach lining. Turns out, while in her sleep, Alice voided the contents of her pizza dinner, all over our bed and herself.
Picture if you will, my precious husband cleaning up a precious little muffin named Alice and then cleaning up the bedding, mattress etc all while trying not to yak himself. He did good though, it turns out his intestinal fortitude came through. I believe he was actually happy to go to work this morning to free himself from what can only be described (quoting Goonies here) a "barfeteria." At last check Alice's chum bucket was most totally and completely half full
Looking forward to the car ride to Dr. Barry's this morning.
In the best interest of you my dear readers, I am leaving this all to your imagination and I won't be posting pictures of the bile.
Blessed Be!

Closing the Coffin on Vampires....

It is with a fond farewell I say adieu to Vampire Books, for a spell. I began my love/fear relationship with Vampires with the Lost Boys in High school. I was so terrified after watching that movie, I had my mom come sleep with me and yes I was in High school, but my room was all the way down in the basement (it was a completed basement complete with a food storage room, game room and bathroom, but still the basement when the next Living creature's room was on the second floor because Brian was working out of town.. I digress) Since then I've tried to find out all I could to defeat a vampire, if I ever came in contact with them. It's hard to know what's real and what is just folklore. So I always have Garlic or Garlic Salt around, I don't beleive in Holy water, But I'm pretty sure I could stake a vampire with a wooden spoon, if called on. It's important that once you stake the vampire, you sever it's head. Staking it will only make it weak for a spell. Once the head is severed you burn the remains and the vampire won't rise again. Last Thanksgiving (2007) I started reading Stephenie Myers books. I admit now that her book is less about vampires and more about a love story between two star crossed "teens" She took a lot of liberties with what a real vampire is like and what he/she does. I still like the work, but it's not really a tome about vampires. So then I read Nora Robert cirlce trilogy which starts with Morrigans Cross. Like all good Nora Roberts book there is an underlying love story. Every character gets paired up and she usually writes three books. This one starts out in medieval time with one brother being turned into a vampire. It ends in a fantasy world but she stays true to the vampire lore I beleive in. Also in the third book at one point it was so terrifying I had to skip to the end, I simply couldn't read it anymore and sleep!!! It all ends good and Nora Roberts was h appy with the books because she said her brothers were finally able to enjoy a book she wrote. I also read the House of Night series about a Vampire finishing school. IN this series you don't become a vampire by being drained of your blood and then drinking the blood of a vampire, it's simply a metabolic change that happens around puberty. You become Marked as a vampire and need to go to a finishing type boarding school at night. It was an easy very easy read and fun too. Then enter the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. This is a hillarious acount of Vampires being able to be "out of the coffin." In the book,the Japanese have created a synthetic blood that has all the nutrients of human blood. While it was originally intended to replace donated blood for humans it turns out vampires can survive on it, so they literally came out of their coffins and let the world know they are real. Sookie is a small town Louisianna waitress who happens to be telepathic and comes into all kinds of misadventures because of her association with the vampires and other magical creatures. I read five or six of those. So I thought I was ready for the grandmother of them all, Anne Rice. I had Robert buy me the Vampire Chronicles for Christmas. I just read Interview with the Vampire and I'm still horrified. I simply can't read anything by Anne Rice. You get the feeling that she really did sit down with a vampire and find out all these things. It was so scary that I would be afraid while driving home from work thinking that my precious Honda Odyseey could be overcome by vampire or coven of vampires. So because of that I'm "closing the coffin," I think I'll go back to reading things less supernatural/evil and more uplifting. I chose an Amy Tan Novel, called Saving Fish from Drowning, of course though it involves a ghost but I'm sure it won't frighten me in the middle of the night.
I'll still maintain my knowledge of how to thwart a vampire.....just in case.

Party like it's 1999 and too many bipeds at the zoo.

This is our own personal Rock Band. Tonight as we ring in the new year we will be rockin' out to the tunes on Rock Band. Not pictured is Quentin on vocals, he's pretty awesome at hitting the pitch, not so awesome at getting the right words, but he has fun. David is pretty wicked on drums. He does all kinds of fancy moves.

Yesterday was a zoo day. Apparently everyone in Houston had the same idea. And those lame West U moms with their huge mega stroller, high heels and digital cam corders were seriously irrititating me. We decided there were way too many bipeds at the zoo, but for the kids sake, we saw everything but the monkeys and reptiles. Well also we missed the bird house and the aquarium. Normally we don't hit all four of those exhibits, but always the reptiles and at least one of the others. Usually the aquarium on the way out or in, but again, too many bipeds!!!

They have several new elephants so that was nice to see and I always love to watch the meer kats. They have a new 3.5 million dollar elephant barn that can hold up to 9 elephants comfrotably. David was funny he said, "Look mom, it's an elephant habitat, just like in the wild complete with steel bars and lots of poop." He has inhereited our sarcasm, and I appreciate that. Sadly the Koalas have gone home to San Diego and there wern't any praire dogs out and the Ken and Sharon Lay Prarie Dog exhibit. Joely was either in our out of the stroller and also she'd get angry when she couldn't climb up and see the exhibit, she most certainly did not want to be picked up by a very willing dad to see, she wanted to do it herself. That led to a few unforgettable moments with her.

This is in the natural encounters exhibit, by far my favorite "house" at the zoo. It holds a lot of fun precious memories. Where else but on Kim Possible can you see Naked Mole rats?

Joely spent a lot of time "people watching" but when an animal caught her eye, it was a delight, she'd screach and exclain, "wook Daddy or wook Dadid" she was so much fun.
In case you don't know, Alice and I went to the zoo almost every week the year I had Joely. She was in a special zoo class and so the zoo is definatly her stomping grounds. We went several times last year, but we havn't been back since the summer. She was a little miffed that they had moved the zebras, they are still in the same general area as where they were, but now they are in the exhibit with all the other hooved animals. Alice and I agree zebras are special and should be treated to their own habitat.

Afterwards it was lunch at Chuys, and it was a miracle, we were able to find parking and we were seated immediatly. Since it was so near Alice's birthday I told the waiter we'd like some brouhaha, but he said they didn't do that at that Chuy's but they would bring her some soapapillas, she was satisfied with that and Robert breathed a sigh of relief. He hates the added attention in a public venue.

We didn't get to see Uncle Bo and Aunt Tessie, they are both fighting the flu. We hope to see them soon-

Happy New Year one and all

Cousins in the news

These are two of my cousins, Todd and Tracy Mecham, with Santa!

Apparently the Seattle area of Washington has been hit with a ton of snow and Todd and Tracy made a sculpture of Santa, they are kids at heart. My memories of Todd and Tracy are neither Todd or Tracy, but always Todd AND Tracy. They are two brothers who I never remember being apart. It's been a long time since I've seen them and I miss them, it was fun to see them "live" on the internet.

Tracy's son submitted the story to the local news station. Click on the title for the link!

Merry Christmas Washington Cousins!

Spreading a little Christmas Cheer

So when it comes to Christmas I absolutly stink at taking a zillion pictures. In fact on Christmas Morning I didn't get any of the boys- just the girls??? On Christmas Eve we go to two Christmas Parties, one with Rob's Dad's side of the family and then later with his mom's side. There are presents and family galore, but by the time we make it to Grandma Dorothy's I forget the camera or lose it among the carnage that is Christmas. Here are some cute pics though- We had a great time and we've been too busy Rocking Out with Rock Band so I can't be expected to Blog or take pictures or cook warm food! After all I got five stars on Blondie's, "One way or another"

Here are the boys trying to get out the door with their haul. Note how crappy they are dressed. NO longer will they listen to me and dress cute or match. I have lost that small amount of control.

On the other hand, Here is Alice all decked out like a beautiful snow princess with here equally beautiful cousin Miss Madison Victoria. They are loving their new stuffed animals. Aunt Darlene gave Alice and Joely little Webkinz and Madison is loving the stuffed bear from her Aunt Sue (rob's mom)

And last but not least, here is David admist the fun, reading a book. Just like his dad and his grandpa's, his nose will always be in a book.

I also started working at San Jacinto Methodist Hospital doing Patient registration in the ER, it's pretty brainless, but its ez money and in the ER there is never a dull moment! Tomorrow we are going to the zoo and then have dinner with Uncle Bo and Aunt Tassie and the "new" Chuy's.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has plans for a fun New Year!

Who doesn't LOVE AC/DC???

A couple of weeks ago, I adjusted my playlist to include some of my favorite AC/DC songs. I did it in a moment of recollection of the salad days of my youth. I had just read an interesting article in the Sunday New York Times about the Rockin' boys from England and how they never grow up. It mad me nostalgic for a simpler time.
For instance, you never worry that AC/DC is going to go acoustic, "crossover" to country (what the heck was Jon thinking????) or have a touchy feeling album or do collaborate with say Celine Dion (the personifaction of all things evil) or someone dead, like Frank Sinatra. AC/DC will always be about the purest things of teenage years, driving, doing rebellious things and hormones. Sure I don't applaud teens doing bad things, but I think its good that they can rock out to these things. AC/DC doesn't even bother with double entendres. It's pretty clear that when they are talking about Shaking all night long, it's not a mom who was fed up with her infant.
AC/DC reminds me of being a tween (before that was even a word) in California. I was trying to find my niche in life at the ripe age of eleven and twelve. My brother is always three years older than me so he 14 or 15 and he was rocking to Def Lepard, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc. I had two choices, either hate him for playing at an absurdly loud level the music or join it and be happy that I could listen to rock and roll without having to buy the album myself. I opted to join. My favorite album back then was indeed one of my favorites albums now. Back in Black. It still sells hundreds of thousands of copies annually and I beleive (without doing any fact checking) it was released in the early 80's- at least before 1982. AC/DC won't seell their music on Itunes or any other digital format. You can purchase them old school in the stores. This has not affected their sales because people just love AC/DC. Me being one of the many minions who can crank up Highway to Hell and drive a little faster and feel a whole lot younger. In fact I imagine myself back in the day, driving the 76 toyota corrola sportscoup (with the optional rally fun pack) down Union in Colorado Springs and singin' my hear out. In reality I'm probably just finishing up the car pool in my sweet, 2004 Honda Oddysey. Even though the stereo is a lot better than in the 76 sportscoup, it still doens't hold a candle to the salad days of my youth.
Robert didn't know me then, but he knows me now and it never ceases to amaze him that I know ALL OF THE CORRECT WORDS to "Back in Black" but I have a hard time with songs like "Angie" by the stones. (I always thought it was Angel) In fact for your reading pleasure. I did not realize the following lyrics until a couple of weeks when I was typing up christmas carols for the cub scouts to sing (it always comes back to the scouts doesn't it?) In the song, "Up on the Housetop" (you know it baby) It says "Up on the housetop reindeer pause." I was looking at the sheet music when I said, hmm, "I always thought it was Up on the housetop Reindeers' paws"
Which in hindsight makes no sense, Reindeer would not pluralized like that and they also don't have paws, they have hooves. So it is indeed an anomaly that I can get all the words to the songs on Back in Black correctly and many of the songs on Iron Maiden -The number of the Beast- for that matter. I think it comes from wanting to be as cool as my leather laden brother and all of his posse who were seeing ozzy, ac/dc and Ronny James Dio live in concert, back when tickets cost about ten bucks and there was a good chance you'd get trampled in the mayhem of no assigned seats.
So thanks Big Bro for making me and my descendents love AC/DC and real HEAVY METAL- Brian actually (back in the day) looked an awful lot like Bon Scott, may he rest in peace. My kids love AC/DC they rock out. Quentin can identify them when he hears them and Joely she really goes to town when Angus starts one of his little riffs. David loves the music on his Ipod and Alice can do a mad imitation of Angus bangin' his head. Once she's got the hopping on one foot with the other leg extended, we'll put her in a Karaoke contest.
And thus concludes my deep thoughts on AC/DC

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

One of the Crosby traditions that I love is the Homeowners Association puts on a snow party every December. They had fake snow brought in, Dickens Carolers, Santa, Hot Chocolate the whole 9 yards. We go down there and play in the "snow." The kids are always in shorts and t-shirts, it's never even cold enough for coats. One year I am pretty sure I have pics of Alice in Sandals. It's funny. Here are a couple of pictures of the fun in the fake snow

Joely did not like the cold wetness of it all-

This is Alice's back, she's wearing a skirt- David is in shorts and Quentin's in his hoodie.

It was a fun day! David wished it could be real, they all agreed that would be fun. They got their wish last night- It started to snow, really snow and it stuck to the ground. We made a wee snowman with a wee baby carrot nose. Sammi and I stood in the doorway most of the time, I don't like the cold anymore!!!! I was jonesin' for some sunny beach weather.

It always comes back to how adorable Joely is- she's in a cute little windbreaker, compliments of Old Navy circa 2004- I think the same coat Alice wore in the last snow "storm"



Sammi and I being Popcicles- the snowflakes look GINORMOUS!

Hey I don't know how I made the crazy mistiness appear, Perhaps it's the ghost of Christmas Future or something-but I think it looks cool. You can't tell, but Quentin is actually in the picture, he's just got his head down adn with his gangsta hoodie, he's concealed.

On a side note and just wondering if people are still reading this, did anyone look at the heavens last week? Wasn't it amazing to see Mars and Jupiter so close? I read on a friends blog how this sort of phenomenon in the heavens probably apperared around the same time as the advent of the Savior. It was neat to watch the celestial bodies and think of how close we are to our Heavenly Home.

Have you seen the Bee Movie?

We have, probably close to 100 times in the last couple of weeks. Joely is obsessed. I taped it off of HBO and it's on the DVR, so that means it's on the main tv. She's adorable she gets all excited, brings someone, ANYONE, the remote and jumps up and down and says "the Bees, The Bees! So we quickly change the channel. Yesterday Alex Pena and her boys brought over the DVD, so we could at least park her somewhere else to watch her show.

Her favorite part is when they shoot Winnie the Pooh with a tranquilizer, it really tickles her.

If you havn't seen the Bee movie, it really is lame, take my word, not Joely's word for it. If you have seen it and you are not Joely, I'm certain you agree, the movie is wierd. No offense Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellwegger, but it's not that funny.

It is fun to watch Jo enjoy it, so it's a keeper.

Here she had so much fun, she had to take a nap while watching it, thank heavens for the DVD now!!!

Wax on Wax off

Robert kept an "I'm Bored" Quentin occupied yesterday by teaching him Karate techniques from the Master, Mister Miagi.

My car looked like it just rolled off the production line-

Thanks Q-bone, and Dad.

c

Friday at the Temple-it was Wonderful

On Wednesday I felt inspired to go to the temple on Friday. I knew Robert was working Saturday and Sunday, but he was SUPPOSED to have Friday off. So I called Glad, (real name Galadriel-- her parents were quintessential Tolkien Fans, they actually read the books--LONG before the movie) and asked her if she was free. I figured we could meet early and then go out to lunch. When Robert came home I asked him, "Hey besides watching t.u. get beat by A&M on Friday, do you have any other plans?" He said t.u. and A&M were playing on Thursday night and that he would be at work on Friday. I was so pathetic I'm sure I threw a fit, then I called Glad and left a message that I wouldn't be able to sniff sniff go on Friday, complaining about Siemens and Robert's work ethic. I must have sounded totally pathetic, because Wade (Glad's husband) said he'd watch my kids too, they have four, we have four, all the same ages, so he was in for 8 kids, two in diapers. Without hesitation I took him up on the wonderful offer. I am sooo glad I did. Thanks a million Wade (Glad if you're reading, let him know he was mentioned on my blog, as I'm sure he won't be reading this--hee hee)
It was wonderful for the kids, they love the Hutchings and are thrilled to spend anytime with them. (they live in Katy, about 60 miles away) It was wonderful for me to have some much needed face time with Glad. Seriously talking on the phone everyday does not cut it. It was wonderful to go to the temple and feel Heavenly Father's spirit and just have a serene morning. I came away renewed and refreshed and greatful for the opportunity. I simply must go more often. And while I don't need to go the temple with anyone, there are wonderful people there- you feel like everyone is your brother or sister, it was just wonderful to share the time with my dear friend- Thanks Glad (if you are reading this)

Thanksgiving Leftovers

This year Robert, the kids and I stayed in town and ate dinner with the Mullens side of the family. Robert's mom hosted and it was the family from Robert's dad side of the clan. Uncle Tony cooked the turkey, Bobby (robert's dad) smoked a ham, I brougth some sides, Bonnie brought a "semi" homemade pie. Sue (my mother in law) made her famous Chicken cornbread dressing, Baked Beans, New Potatoes and green Beans. There were plenty of desserts and lots of family. We had a great time. Sue let us take home most of the Turkey and Ham and all the sides I could fit into the many containers laying around. It was a great day. Bobby said something real poignant- I'm kind of quoting here-

"This year we have suffered loss (his sister Susan Passed away) and we had some wonderful gains (Susan's daughter had a beautiful baby boy, named Jackson in May) We all survived a hurrican and even though crazy things are happening in India we should be greatful for our blessings. The bible tells us to be thankful if we have food to eat and shoes on our feet, so we have plenty to be thankful for."

It was a nice thought and I'm greatful for our small immediate families, we each just have one brother and for the large extended families Robert and I both have- we both have tons of aunts, uncles and cousins. Robert is blessed because both of his Grandma's are still with us and one of his grandpas. I do really miss my grandparents the most around this time. So many of my memories of them involve Thanksgiving and big family parties- I loved that my dad's mom and sister often came to my mom's family's get togethers, it was really nice to be around everyone.

On to less poignant items-

One of the best Thanksgiving traditions is the Turkey Sandwich. All my life I looked forward to it, even more than the actual feast. When we moved to California mom found a resteraunt called the Pot Belly Deli. I googled it today and the closest I could find to where we lived was in Walnut Creek, (It's the link on the title) They made this awesome sandwich called the Turkey Berry sandwich. After that resteraunt, turkey sandwiches were never the same.
Here is the set up- ( I sound like Ken Hoffman now)

Two slices white bread (wheat will work for you granola types)

Put Mayonnaise on both slices (Ok mom uses Miracle whip, which was fine for me for a long time, that was until living in Brazil and eating real mayo, I'm sorry but Miracle whip no longer does it for me)

Put some congealed cranberry "sauce" on each slice

Put some stuffing on one side and then put some turkey on top of the stuffing.

Shut the sandwich and eat it's delicious yumminess.

I had to stop and get some congealed cranberries and some stove top stuffing so I could make the sandwich, but it was as good as I remembered.

This is how the other Mullens enjoyed the leftovers

Paw Paw, aka Bobby let the boys take home the mega huge drumsticks.

After Quentin ate most of it, he declared that he didn't like it. Robert was dissapointed because there were only two, and he really likes the turkey leg. I guess we'll have to hit a festival somewhere in Texas, 'cuz someone always sells Turkey Legs.

This is just Joely being a cutie patootie, She kind of has the whole village people thing going on there. She wants to be a cow girl, yee haw

This is actually the two little princeseses on Thanksgiving Morning, they were making a parfait to take, because to quote Donkey, "Parfaits are the best dang thing on the planet"
Alice chose to eat a salad instead of leftovers. She told Robert the other day, "Dad the choice is always going to be a Salad"

I do not like them Sam I am

Keeping up with my tradition of tooting my own horn and trying to create memories to last a lifetime, I made Green Eggs and Ham. I'm pleased to report that all my little people were happy to eat them, and they all declared, "I do so like them Sam I am"

Robert sneered and only ate the ham and biscuits. I'll be honest, green eggs, although they taste the same as yellow eggs, were a little unpleasant to my palate. Here are my minions enjoying it.

Alice is wearing the Traditional Indian Dress. Mrs. Randolph had a Thanksgiving Feast for her class and they made indian dresses and vests. This was two days later and she was still prancing about in it.

David being a good sport. He ended up eating it all, he had to, we were going on a hike later.

And Finally Quentin, he "couldn't beleive how good it was"

I forgot a picture of cute little Joely, but the eggs were very curious to her.

So after breakfast David and I met the Webelos at Sheldon Lakes Environmental Science Center, right here in Crosby. They were completing their Naturalist Activity Pin. It was a fun morning. The whole family was planning on coming but that was before the Tooth Fairy Incident of 2008.

At approximatly 4:30 AM Alice woke up because the Tooth Fairy had pulled out her tooth. That's the only explanation we can come up with, when she went to sleep her tooth was in her mouth and when she woke up it was gone. This created a great deal of stir and excitement and naturally little Joely woke up and joined in the celebration. First it was important to find where on earth the tooth fairy left the money. On Friday's Alice sleeps in the living room with her brothers and she couldn't find any money there. I was able to find her money stashed in her room. Crisis avoided. So needless to say at 9:00 am when we needed to go to the park, Joely was already back to sleep after snuggling with her dad. The other kids stayed home with Robert too and David and I enjoyed the relative peace and quiet with 12 other Webelo Scouts.

David Trying to locate animals in their habitats. We both had fun learning about Animals and insects indigenous to our area.

Clone Wars

Here are the clones, Quentin and Joely, Joely is wearing pink. This was taken Last Wednesday at Crapplebees. Quentin had won an "A is for Applebees" award for doing fabulous in Math (his grandma will be proud) and so he wanted to leave school early and go to lunch with Joely and I. Of course I said "No way Jose", and then he said, "Please" and then I said, (foolishly thinking the teacher would make the right choice) "Ask your teacher if she thinks its a good idea." So she said, "go ahead we arent' doing anything to day in class." So off we went. He and Jo enjoyed Chips and Salsa and Chicken and fries. We all had a great time and I'm glad I had the afternoon with my clones.

NAILED IT!!!

I loved Twilight! I'm so glad I was able to go with my posse. We giggled all the way there and back. I feel they nailed the book, all the teen angst was there, the beautiful scenery of Washington,(I was freesing just watching the rain and the cold) the beautiful Vampires and my precious Jacob.
For those on the fence - The guy who plays Edward, can't think of his name, but I'll always think of him as Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter- He has grown up now and I really don't think he looks like Cedric (may he rest in peace) so it was easy to beleive he was indeed a vampire and not a wizard. Bella was awesome, the only complaint was they made her look to well put together, in the book she didn't care so much about her looks. And Jacob, his character isn't developed much in this book, he's more in the other three, well he was awesome and beautiful in a way totally different than the vamps. LOVED HIM!!! A lot of people were saying they couldn't buy Shark Boy as Jacob, but again he's all grown up. My friends and I discussed this and we also overheard EVERYONE in the theater saying it, Rosalie wasn't as beautiful as she was described in the book. My favorite vampire character is Alice and they didn't have a lot of time to develop the intense friendship she shares with Bella. I'm hoping they make all of the books into movies and Alice will get more screentime. Dr. Cullen, came across as kind of creepy looking, it looked like he was wearing a bunch of powder, like some old english dude from Queen Victoria's Court. Normally the actor that portrayed him is good looking in his own right (jennie garth's husband) but in the movie he wasn't so ooh la la.
I realize to anyone (whoever you are) who hasn't read the books, this makes no sense.

Oh and I made breakfast this morning and packed lunches. Breakfast was Eggo waffles, but that still counts as a hot breakfast- Go Kareena!

Do you have your tickets?

I do!!!! Me, and 700 of my closest friends, will be hitting the Movie Tavern tonight at midnight to see the SOLD OUT first showing of Twilight. MY life will never be the same. Robert is a little wierded out that his 38 year old wife will be acting like a teeny bopper tonight. My prediction is that it will be mostly middle aged moms like myself tonight and less teenagers, after all they have school tomorrow, all I'll have to do it throw the kids on the bus and go back to bed.... They can eat breakfast at school, just this once...

Dreaming of Jacob and Edward as I type....