Strangers in a Strange Land (And I Kind of Like It!)

Jacob and I left Friday morning for New Orleans.  We took a slight detour to the Rangers Stadium in Arlington, TX to hit the cool store they have FILLED with anything and everything Rangers.  We got some little shirts for the boys and a few other cool things.  Then, hopped back in the car and headed to Shreveport -- where we got a motel room and spent the night. At one point we were driving down the interstate in the Dallas area behind a semi and things kept pelting us from the truck.  We noticed a swarm of something on the back of the truck and realized it was full of bees and hives.  Jacob laughed and said, "We're being pelted by bees!"  Needless to say it was an interesting drive.  Shreveport was a dirty and interesting city.  The hotel room wasn't horrible, but it wasn't super nice, either. At one point in the middle of the night we heard a strange high pitched sound.  I told Jacob I didn't know if it was tires squealing or some woman screaming.  When we got up the next morning and the coffee pot didn't work -- well, I was ready to get out of there.  We stopped at an old, nasty truck stop for coffee and honey buns and got right back on the road.  We stopped a few times a long the way -- Tourist information buildings had free coffee, restrooms and were VERY clean and had the nicest people inside.  We stopped to eat too. We finally made it to New Orleans around 4:00 PM yesterday. The GPS system got turned around in the French Quarter so we ended up driving around turning left, turning right, turning left. The French Quarter is nothing but one way streets that were made before cars so they're not really wide enough for cars.  PLUS there are herds of pedestrians and people on bikes all around. We finally (with sighs of relief) reached our hotel entrance.

We got settled into our very nice room and then went walking around.  We saw a parade -- which I loved.  They were blaring music that I enjoy (Pop and hip hop), people were dancing, little boys were on floats wearing little tuxedos and little girls were on floats wearing little white dresses.  They were throwing flowers and beads and, needless to say, I enjoyed it.  Jacob asked if I wanted beads at one point.  I said, "Yes!"  People were fighting over beads (well, not literally, but you had to move fast to beat people to them) and suddenly a guy threw a string of beads and hit Jacob with them.  He laughed, picked them up, and placed them around my neck.

We walked around the RiverWalk area and saw the Mississippi River.  It was really interesting -- and very beautiful!

We tried a Neptune Pizza last night.

My best friend will cringe when she sees this picture because of the tomatoes -- but wait, Denisa, it gets better. ;)  This pizza is one of THE pizzas of the area -- shrimp, crawfish, roasted garlic, tomatoes, and a TON of cheese.  It was delicious!

This morning we decided it would be fun to walk to Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets for breakfast.  The cafe is a mile from our hotel, which isn't bad.  We took off this morning and there were other people walking around, the streets in certain areas (the farther we got from the hotel) were still dirty from the parades and parties of the night before.  We saw a shirtless young man stumbling around one little road -- have you ever watched a zombie movie?  Well, that is what he looked like.  It was the creepiest thing.  Jacob and I learned at that moment, as we hurried past him, that we could walk really fast.  Ha. We walked past a park where people were sitting and painting, selling their paintings, and visiting with passers by.  It was really neat.

We finally made it to Cafe Du Monde, which was a cute little place.

We ordered our coffees and beignets as well as some beignet mix and, since the place was filling up, and seating was already becoming limited, we got our breakfast to go and walked back to the hotel.

On the walk back we saw the "zombie" trying to get into a mini van.  The door was locked and he just kept pulling on the handle as if he thought it would eventually open if he yanked on it long enough.  We also saw a man sleeping on the steps of a building.  We walked a little farther and a man and woman walked past us with their young children.  I thought, "Oh the things those kids are going to see!"

This is a beautiful, yet dirty, fun and interesting city.  We have enjoyed ourselves so far and plan to try and visit the Mardi Gras World Museum today (if all goes well).

If nothing else we can now officially say that we've been here.
Oh, and my brave and wonderful husband can now officially say that he HAS, in fact, actually driven in the French Quarter.  Have I mentioned he's my hero?  ;P

Until next time . . .

Godspeed

There are only a couple of days left in the music challenge. This weekend has been all about my two little gremlins.  This morning they boys both crawled in bed with Jacob and me when they woke up.  They both hugged on me and were so love-y and cuddly.  It was sweet. I love little moments like that. 

We have had a fun weekend. We played outside, played catch, played HORSE while listening to 80s and 90s hip hop music (which was a blast), and the guys played board games last night. The boys and I made homemade pizza for dinner last night which was so much fun.  Today we went to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and had a blast running around playing games with the boys. Everyone says that having children changes your life -- this is so true.  It does change your life, but it changes it for the better. I love my parents and my husband, I love my close friends and family members, but I never knew I could love some one as much as I love my two little boys.  They fill my heart with happiness and I don't know how we ever lived without them in our lives! Jacob and I get to do fun things with the boys that we wouldn't get to do if it was just us -- like run around Chuck E. Cheese and play as many games as we can to see how many tickets we can get.  My boys are still young enough that Jacob and I can act silly and they STILL think we're funny.

One of my favorite times of day is bedtime.  I get to sit with my boys close to me and read books to them before they go to bed. -- filling their little imaginations with images from the stories we read.  I get to cuddle with them and tell them goodnight. When we go check on them before we go to bed they look so cute laying in their beds asleep.  Every time I hear the song I'm posting today I think of my boys.  This song describes things little boys like and tells them to have sweet dreams. We called Alex "Little Man" until he was old enough to tell us he was big.  Ha.  This song is a sweet song that every parent of a son can relate to.  I know some people don't like the Dixie Chicks, but at least focus on the words.  It's a beautiful lullaby from a parent to their young son.

Rhythm Is A Dancer

Today has a been a productive day for me.  We opened all the windows in the house and turned on the fans because it's SO nice outside.  With a little help from Jacob I cleaned our bedroom and dusted and reorganized things.  We went outside to play catch for a while because today is too nice of a day to spend indoors!  We also played HORSE -- which was hilarious with two little boys.  While we were playing HORSE we had U-Verse on a radio channel that plays "old school hip hop and R&B" -- it reminded me of my preteen years.  I really enjoyed it!  So, because of that (and because it's such a beautiful day) I thought I'd post an old song I loved "back in the day" -- a song that is a lot of fun and also has great lyrics.   When I was looking for an old song to post for my music challenge today and came across this song I thought about my best friend.  She loves music -- lives on music, so the part of the song where the singer says, "Rhythm is a dancer, it's a soul's companion," is probably something she can really relate to.  Turn it up and have fun while you listen to it!  I am!

Food!

This week has been a busy and interesting one.  Jacob didn't feel well, then we had pipe/sink issues in the kitchen and the boys' bathroom, and Logan was sick.  I did manage to do some baking and cooking this week, though.  I always enjoy it when I have time to actually cook or bake instead of throwing a quick meal together.  I thought I'd share some pictures of a few of the things I've cooked, baked, or made this week -- just because they were all such big hits!

This is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip I made from the Deceptively Delicious cook book.  This dip has a weird twist -- but Logan loves it so I guess that means it works!  The above picture is cream cheese and peanut butter.

Then you're supposed to add 6 table spoons of chocolate syrup.  I'll be honest, I added more. (I tasted it first and it just seemed to need more chocolate syrup -- what are you gonna do?) ha

Now, the purpose of the Deceptively Delicious cookbook is to sneak vegetables in so your children get the vegetables they need, but don't realize it.  This is where my wonderful food processor comes into play.  This specific recipe actually has carrot puree in it.  You can detect a hint of carrot when you eat it, but it's not so much to make it yucky (or if you have no children you can just omit the carrots altogether -- it's delicious!)  So, I added the carrot puree and mixed it all together.  I sliced an apple and put it on a little plate with some of this dip and gave it to the boys for their snack that day.  Logan loved it and asks for it daily.  Alex didn't like it because he said he didn't know what it was -- he IS my picky eater.  one out of two isn't bad I guess.  Ha. (And it looks a lot yummier when it's completely mixed -- the above picture isn't quite mixed yet.)

On Wednesday, between having the sink in the boys' bathroom fixed and the pipes in the kitchen fixed I managed to make some homemade applesauce muffins.  These are full of old fashioned oats and applesauce and as far as healthy foods go they are pretty good -- very good when warmed and served with coffee.  ;)

Again -- Logan likes these and Alex won't eat them.   Jacob seems to really like them, though.

This brings us to last night's dinner.  I managed to start everything early enough to be able to make something really good.  Jacob took the boys outside and played football with them since it was such a nice day.  Logan was feeling better and wanted to go out and play -- I'm sure the fresh air was nice.  I sat on the porch and watched for a while before coming back in and finishing dinner.

Jacob loves chicken and rice so I tried a new recipe.  It sounded gross to me at first because you mix a can of cream of celery soup with a can of cream of mushroom soup.  It was actually very good.  A layer of rice, then spread the soup mixture on top, lay cooked chicken breasts on top of that, cover with shredded cheese and tomato slices, parsley, garlic, and onion salt.  It was delicious! 

I don't often get the chance to spend as much time cooking as I would like.  I was able to do that some this week and thought I'd share. 

Army of Me

Today I'm posting something from my college years.  The song actually came out when I was in high school, but I didn't discover it (or Bjork, for that matter) until college.  She is a very odd woman from Iceland who looks like a little girl but has a dirty mouth and is always picking fights with people.  She has a very interesting voice -- it's raunchy, yet soft -- and she has some really interesting music.  I will admit that I do not like all of her music -- actually, she probably has more songs I don't like than songs I do. This song, however, is one that I like -- a lot.  I love the blazing alternative sound of the music and the way the tempo picks up with strange music at the chorus.  Most importantly, I love the lyrics.  "If you complain once more you'll meet an army of me."  This video is strange -- like every other video she has.  It is an interesting and some what weird song.

Good luck!  (LOL)  

One Of Those Days

I have been home today with a sick 4-year-old boy.  He woke us up early this morning because he was sick.  He went back to sleep for a couple of hours and when he woke up he seemed fine.  He said he felt fine and he was running and playing with his big brother.  I kept him home just in case and I'm glad I did.  He has spent the entire day laying in the living room watching TV.  For those of you who know Logan you know that he just doesn't lay around all day watching TV.  This is a boy who lives in his own little world and spends most of his time in the play room.  Yesterday he was playing with the Bat cave and I heard him singing Happy Birthday.  I asked what he was doing and he said, "It's Robin's birthday.  Batman and  Joker are giving him a party." 

He hasn't gotten sick again but is running a low grade fever.  He watched a Charlie and Lola DVD -- Charlie and Lola are a favorite in our house.  We have books we read over and over again -- Lola reminds me of Logan and Alex always points out that he is the big brother, just like Charlie.  When the video was over I read a book to Logan.  The boys have their own little library in the play room.   I was looking through the books trying to decide which one to read when I saw a book Alex received for Christmas from his grandparents called "One of Those Days."   I quickly grabbed the book from the shelf and thought, "this is perfect!" In the book "those days" are the different types of bad days a child can have.  Being sick is "one of those days."  We finished the book and Logan said, "Again," so we read it again.  "Again," Logan said.  Logan loved that, today, he could relate to the book.  We read it two more times and then I needed to check on the laundry.  I covered Logan with a blanket and told him to rest. 

Reading to the boys before bedtime is one of my favorite things to do.  Reading to the boys and closing the book when the story ends and hearing, "Again," is a great feeling. I'm glad my boys enjoy books and stories as much as I do.  I'm glad I am able to sit with them when they are sick and rub their backs or love on them, watch movies with them and read books to them. 

And the greatest feeling of all, is the morning you get up and they are fever-free and back to their active selves after having "one of those days."

Take On Me

There are only a few more days left in our music challenge -- it has really flown by! Today I am posting a song I loved when I was little and still love today.  I could never get sick of this song.   Jacob and I enjoy a show on BBC America called Top Gear.  We have tried to watch the American version, but the three British guys are just funnier to us -- so we continue to watch the British one. Last night we watched an episode that was on the DVR.  The guys had taken an old combine and turned it into a massive snow plow and put a flame thrower on the end.  They took it to Norway to test it and see if if could plow streets better than a usual snow plow.  It was hilarious!  Jacob and I were laughing so hard! Well, to make a long story short, James May, one of the co-hosts was driving the combine and every time the camera went to him he was listening to Ah Ha while he drove.  When Take On Me started playing I felt myself getting a little excited because, well, I've always loved this song.  The video is a really interesting one, as well -- it's creative and artistic.  Maybe in the future we should do a challenge on creative music videos -- that would be an interesting one.  Ha.

So, here is Take On Me by Ah Ha.

A Ha Take On Me