Two Little Hurricanes

The rainy weather this past Saturday necessitated a trip to the McWane Center, a great place to expend energy on a yucky day! I loved these pictures of Walker and Kathryn in the hurricane simulator.
I won't lie. There are days these two act like little hurricanes, running here and there with speed, leaving me feeling all tousled and making my hair stand straight up!

Go Greek!

Did you know I like Greek food? In fact, I really LIKE it. So much so that whenever I see a sign like this, you can bet I'll be there!

Maybe I should say, I'll TRY to be there. You see, I really haven't been to a Greek festival in, well, about 6 years. There was this one time in Memphis, when my sweet husband attempted to take me. We only had one available night during the entire festival that we could go, so the kids and I were going to meet Matt after work to walk around the festival and enjoy some Greek food. We parked, we walked and we got there only to find out you had to have cash.

Well, neither Matt nor I EVER have cash on hand. And in a crazy twist of fate, Matt didn't have his ATM card either. I did have the checkbook, but our attempt to cash a check at the local grocery store failed. Sad to say, we had to load the kids up and drive to the local Mexican restuarant for dinner! Now, you know I love me some Mexican. But this particular night, I was REALLY, REALLY craving Greek food!

Fast forward to last night. The Greek Festival is in town, and guess what this wonderful festival has--A DRIVE THRU! GENIOUS! Matt had to attend a football game, so the kids and I loaded up in the car, drove downtown, and with a large stack of cash, I bought myself a fabulous Greek dinner!

I enjoyed it so much, I am tempted to go back tonight:) The good news is, if you live in this area, you can enjoy Greek food all year long. Here are a few of my local favorites...


Here are some more options for enjoying the Greek life all year round!

Classic Greek Key Bedding

Greek Key Towels

Greek Key Notepad

Greek Key Ribbon

Greek Key Belt

I think I might even learn to make baklava. Looking at this recipe, I think I can do it! Of course, a trip to the Greek Isles just might be my most preferred way to experience all things Greece!

A Yummy Recipe!

I don't think I've ever actually tried one of Giada de Laurentiis' recipes nor have I ever made orzo, but this one is too good not to share!

Tri-Colore Orzo

Ingredients

1 pound orzo pasta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
2 cups fresh arugula (about 3 ounces)
3/4 cup crumbled ricotta salata cheese (or feta cheese)
1/2 cup dried cherries
12 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain pasta and put the pasta on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle the pasta with 3 tablespoons olive oil, toss, spread out, and set aside to cool.

Once the orzo is cool, transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine.

If you know me, you know I improvised on a few things, so here goes...instead of arugula I used baby spinach and instead of dried cherries I used craisins. I also went real light on the basil (like maybe 3-4 leaves instead of 12...I'm not a huge basil fan).

Try it, and let me know what you think!

The Many Faces of Kathryn

Meet Snow White, I mean Kathryn.

I was not only lucky enough to have a picture taken with this lovely princess, but she gave me a kiss too:)

Somedays I wonder if she'll be a princess or maybe a chef??? Yes, that is pepper she's eating!

Or maybe a scientist???

Only the Lord knows what the future holds for this little princess/chef/scientist, but I have no doubt it will be a bright one!

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Firstborn

Perhaps many of you have never met our firstborn. Maybe I should describe her for you...four legs, furry, wet nose, pointy ears. Wait, here's a picture...


That's her--Georgia the cat. Today at school, the kiddos had to take a picture of their pet for show and tell. The fact that the most recent picture I have of Georgia is circa 2006 shows just how quickly pets can take a back seat when babies arrive on the scene.

As shown in the first photo, when I first got Georgia, her days were spent lounging in her cat seat watching the birds and squirrels crawl across the power lines outside the second story window.

When we moved to our first house, it was Georgia who dominated our "first snow" pictures and our holiday pictures.

But much like the picture of Georgia under the Christmas tree, her days are now spent hiding...desperately hiding from my two children. In fact, she only comes out at naptime and bedtime and that's no exaggeration!

So, in honor of our pet, our firstborn, here's a post all about Georgia. And here's the photo the kids took to school to share with their classmates!

We love you, Georgia!

The Big Rainy

This past weekend, we headed south to visit Pops on his birthday. Pops has wanted to take the kiddos to New Orleans to visit the zoo and aquarium for some time now, and this weekend seemed like the perfect time to do that and celebrate Pop's birthday too!

The only problem was the RAIN. It rained and rained and rained. Fortunately, we found plenty to keep us occupied even if an outdoor trip to the zoo wasn't possible.

Kathryn would have been happy staying in the hotel foyer. She loved the arrangement of yellow roses and insisted on smelling them every time we walked by. Here she is posing like a "lady" in front of her flowers.

After lunch at Deanies, we hit St. Charles for a ride on the trolley car or "train" as Walker and Kathryn called it. They loved the ride, and the adults didn't mind it either!

Waiting on the trolley

Enjoying the ride

That night, we enjoyed dinner at Superior Grill. I know, who eats Mexican food in New Orleans. Remember, however, that we had two three year olds with us and child-friendly restaurant was the most important criteria for the evening.

Here's a picture of me with the birthday boy!

Tula and Walker

Kathryn didn't quite make it through dinner. We didn't plan on it taking us so long to get seated. Apparantly everyone in New Orleans also wanted Superior Grill! Kathryn never leaves any quesadilla behind, but this night was an exception.

Here was the nice turn down service...

and here was the best part of the turn down...PRALINES!

Mommy liked the pralines, and Kathryn liked wearing the slippers (sorry this picture is so blurry!).

Saturday, we made it to the aquarium. Walker had the alligator on his list of things to see (again, another blurry picture!).

I think they liked climbing on all of the displays almost as much as they enjoyed all of the sea life.

Afterwards, we enjoyed the best part of any trip to New Orleans...lunch at Mother's. It was as delicious as always!

Happy Birthday, Pops! We enjoyed every minute of our weekend!

Howdy, Partners!

If you've been around my two for any length of time, you know two things about them: they love Toy Story 2, and they love fruit snacks! So, you can imagine how much they love these....


Well, they love most of them. When they are eating these fruit snacks, Kathryn always has to give the Woody snacks in her package to Walker, and in return, Walker gives Kathryn all of the Buzz snacks in his package. Neither of them like "Mr. Zurg" (as they call him), so they normally give those to Matt. They always kindly give me Jessie.

You can imagine my surprise when I picked up the kids from school today, and they gave me these...

Kathryn had saved the Jessie snacks (red) and Walker had saved "Mr. Zurg" (purple)from their lunch. Needless to say, they were all hot and stuck together (and a little dirty, I might add), but the kids were so proud of their gift.

I am sure at this point their teacher is just a bit perturbed with me. Walker came home last Thursday telling me he cried for me at school. Kathryn later told me the full story that Walker cried because I sent him Spiderman fruit snacks instead of the Toy Story fruit snacks I sent Kathryn. Did I mention I tried to get them in separate rooms???

I am thinking this Thursday, we may just leave the fruit snacks at home!