comfort food for a chilly day

Today was a cool, crisp, chilly, and WINDY day.....

We had breakfast and made, what seems to be becoming a once weekly, visit to Bass Pro Shop. Then the boys and I took naps and Daddy Buck watched, what seems to also be becoming a once weekly, New Orleans Saints loss.

I cooked homemade comfort foods to round out our at-home, indoors, family Sunday afternoon.

turkey (leftover) noodle soup w/ carrots, celery, onions, muahrooms, parsley, pasta

hot chocolate w/ milk (and a dash if Amaretto is you choose so)

mmm, mmm good...

It's beginning to look a lot like....

.....CHRISTMAS!!

Let's forget to discuss Thanksgiving Day though.

We had a terrific day with a delicious meal. Papa Cody, Maw-Maw, Uncle Jas, and Mam joined us for lunch. Daddy Buck fried a turkey and Maw-Maw and I prepared homemade macaroni and cheese, corn pudding, boiled new potatoes, green bean bundles, cucumber salad, challah bread and sweet tea. And for dessert...fruit tart, coconut pie, apple pie, lemon squares (courtesy of Mam-Maw Margie), and Oreo "clumps".

We gave all of our family members our family portraits as a Thanksgiving gift and I had the boys a special Thanksgiving "treat" too. They each got a Thanksgiving puzzle (Frank-o's a turkey and Buck-a-roo's the Mayflower ship) and Buck-a-roo got a harmonica and Frank-o got a penny whistle. It was such a great idea that I had to get the boys old-fashioned muscial instruments in an effort to foster the love of music in our childrenThe rule was quickly established that they could only be played outside and they enjoyed them immensely; so much that they became snake worm charmers with them.

Or, we could call this....let's use the flashlight to blind the poor, innocent little earthworm while we blow his brains out with the blissful tunes from our harmonica and penny whistle and threaten to take its life by stomping on it with our baseball cleats on this beautiful day of thanks!!

Did I mention that my mom and I decked the halls all day on Friday--no Black Friday shopping for us. Here's several pictures from in and around our now-festive home....some pictures in the daylight and some taken at night all lit up. Please do take note of the new ribbon/garland that coordinates throughout the Christmas tree, front entry garland, wreath, and trees....it's my favorite new detail!!

Now that our home is ready for the holidays...we are still trying to perfect the whole issue of 'Santa's watching' and 'have we been naughty or nice?' !!

Flashback Friday

This is day-after-Thanksgiving last year as the boys were helping me to decorate the Christmas tree....same plan this year, so expect pictures in the upcoming week of our holiday decorations for this year.

what are we THANKful for...

Daddy Buck and Princess are THANKful the for privelege to live and raise our children with the many freedoms afforded to us in this great country; the men/woman that fight unselfishly for those freedoms on a daily basis; two miracle children that we are able to watch grow, laugh, talk, and cry everyday; for a successful career in what is currently a struggling industry and a rewarding career in what is a sometimes an emotionally trying field; for the necessities and luxuries that these careers provide for our family; a terrific extended family that our boys are able to experience on a regular basis; and for God that has provided all of this for us.

Buck-a-roo is THANKFUL for his little brother; anything chocolate, i.e. Oreos, chocolate milk, Hershey's kisses; Popeye's Fried Chicken; his two closest friends, Jack and Drew; his namesakes and all his family

Frank-o is THANKful for his older brother; long locks of hair to run his fingers through; stuffed animals galore; his many blankets/"covers"; soymilk; pizza; his namesakes and all his family

We are blessed!!


Now for a little fun....take this Thanksgiving Quiz and test your turkey history. I scored 6.

Happy THANKSgiving! JLHC Vaughn

I will finish my THANKSgiving post today with a video clip (compiled by my dear co-worker, Felipe) that depicts just how blessed our family is....

Wordless Wednesday w/ Weekend Wrap-up and a recipe

Wordless Wednesday

since we are giving THANKS this week....here's the two people Daddy Buck and I are most THANKful for:

(they are both about 1 month old in these pictures)

{Buck-a-roo}


{Frank-o}







Weekend Wrap-up

I have been a little slow posting about last weekend's happenings, but here it is...

Thank goodness, I (Daddy Buck had to work and the boys were at home with a babysitter) was in good company for the last LSU football home game; otherwise, the day would have been a total loss. Yes, the LSU Tigers lost to the Ole Miss Rebels; but, I was able to spend the day with our dear friends, the Gipsons, from our old hometown of Jackson, MS. Aside from the team's loss, the day was great fun.



S (on the left in the picture) is a huge follower of this blog....Thanks S & A for coming to Baton Rouge, I had a great time at the game with you!!





On Sunday we went to church followed by lunch at TJ Ribs, the boys then skipped their naps and we went to our niece, Grace's, 6th birthday party. Happy Birthday Grace!!! The boys had an excellent time. After the party, the boys and Daddy Buck headed home for a much needed nap while I ventured to Wal-Mart to tackle grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner. Imagine this....I wasn't the only person with that idea :) The store was a chaotic nightmare!!





Recipe
here's a party pleaser/finger food/sweet treat that's so is super-simple.....only 3 ingredients!!



Oreo Cookie "Clumps"

1 package of Oreos
1 package of cream cheese
1 package white/vanilla almond bark

crush Oreos in Ziploc bag first, cream cream cheese and slowly mix with Oreos, roll mixture into balls and dip in melted almond bark, allow them to "set-up" in refrigerator and enjoy!!

"Not Me!" Monday

*UPDATE:

I DID NOT, in an effort to be completely organized and prepared, all last week maintain a running grocery list of items needed to prepare Thanksgiving dinner and then forgot the list at home yesterday when I was grocery shopping. I, then, DID NOT phone home to Daddy Buck to read the list aloud to refresh my memory (though, might I say, I had done well already without the list) only to find that he WAS, most certainly, NOT napping with the boys and in too much of a dazed state upon answering the phone to actually read me anything that sounded remotely close to a grocery list.

I AM NOT so anxious/inpatient about the upcoming holidays that I christmas-tized my blog the week before Thanksgiving!!

*ORIGINAL POST:

On Monday while Daddy Buck and I enjoyed a day off of work together, we embarked on a friendly best of three bowling compeition where Daddy Buck won 2 games to 1 (only winning by a small margin of 4 pins in game 3) and he DID NOT exit the bowling alley through the double front doors announcing at the top of his lungs, "I'm the Champion of the World!!!" Really, you beat your amateur-at-best and "haven't bowled in 3+ years" wife at a best of 3 bowling match where you ulitimately had luck on your side..."Champion of the World" seems a little much.



I HAVE NOT acquired Daddy Buck's negotiating skills so much that while we were in New Orleans on Tuesday, I negotiated with a street vendor to purchase a fleur-de-lis wooden painting and was able to get him to come down from his original price by 55%.

*cell phone pic w/ poor lighting doesn't do it justice :(

Daddy Buck and I DID NOT forget to bring the dogs indoors one night this week only to wake the next morning to find the 1st frost of the year on the ground and that the temperatures had plummeted to 33 degrees during the night. We are excellent pet caretakers and would NEVER do anything of this sort.

GEAUX Tigers...Beat those Rebels!!

Gameday shout-out for our team!!

Buck-a-roo took this pic of Frank-o...

To get us into the gameday spirit....check out our hair!! Buck-a-roo has a "bo-hawk" and Frank-o has "tilly hair"!!

GEAUX Tigers....Beat those Rebels!!!

TGI-FRYday

check out MCKMama's Small Fry in all her cuteness and help me win her contest!!

click here

Tigers nearing the end, Thanksgiving almost here, Christmas will be here soon

Our LSU Tigers play their last home game tomorrow against the Rebels from Ole Miss. GEAUX Tigers!!!








Thanksgiving is less than a week away and boy, how I do enjoy the holiday season. Once again, we will host Thanksgiving dinner at our house complete with a fried turkey. In an effort to get a jumpstart, I set the dinner table for our Thanksgiving meal today (the four of us eat daily at the bar in the kitchen) and I thought I would share it here and now (who says paper plates can't replace fine china for holiday gatherings).








Speaking of Thanksgiving meals, Buck-a-roo had his Thanksgiving feast at school today. I wonder where we get the concept of turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberries.....in the minds of preschoolers, the pilgrims and indians feasted on chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, and sugar cookies with turkey icing, which is exactly what we did today!!













And, speaking of jumpstarts....I am most certain you have noticed my impatience by now. I couldn't wait another day to reconstruct my blog and put everyone in the holiday spirit. As far as Buck-a-roo was concerned, Thanksgiving was today!! And, as far as I am concerned....bring on the holiday season!!!

Flashback Friday

Thanksgiving ~ 2006

{Frank-O}

{Buck-a-roo holding Frank-o}

Thanksgiving ~ 2007

{Buck-a-roo}

{Buck-a-roo & Frank-o}

what to do with 2 days vacation for Dad & Mom??

Day #1 (Monday)....send the boys to school, have breakfast together at La Madeleine (Yum-O, my pick), go Christmas (Santa) shopping for the boys (made huge strides here), have lunch date at Walk-Ons, compeititive round of bowling at the local lanes, rush home for quick mid-afternoon nap, get the boys early from school for outside family play time, family dinner (all four of us sitting down together eating four different meals), baths and bedtime by 8pm for all members of the family = excellent day!!





Here's a hint for our next day of vacation and where we ventured to...







Day #2 (Tuesday)....family day trip to New Orleans to the Aquarium of the Americas (1st time trip for Daddy Buck, Buck-a-roo, and Frank-o) complete with lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville and French Quarter art purchase for PrincessMom = another excellent day!!



The aquarium is a photographer's dream; so much opportunity for jaw-dropping snapshots. No, I am not claiming to be a photographer, I'm just saying... Check out the scenery and critters that I did capture:














(try to ignore my reflection in the glass and focus on the gigantuous anaconda in the tank)




(let's play a game...find the seahorse in the picture *hint-he's camoflauged)




Then there were these critters that I also enjoyed photographing:







The shark tank was the unanimous crowd favorite amongst the boys of the family (all three of them):









the boys also enjoyed searching for the otter in his tank--he was very fast and quite the showoff:




we might could have skipped the aquarium all together and just rolled down the hill outside the aquarium as we did before we entered the aquarium and again after we left the aquarium:




if we had done that though, I wouldn't have gotten this picture (my absolute, hands-down favorite of them all):




then it was off to lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, where the mango margaritas are splendid and you can pretend to be a pirate's parrakeet through your entire meal:







we had a terrific time:

it was back to reality, i.e. work, today!!