Birthday Blues

Our plans for Teeny’s birthday fell through…she’s been dreaming of skydiving for 11 years now, and we were going to do a 3 generation dive (Judy was flying in). TWO MONTHS AGO (I called last week to book the dives, what cruddy timing) the laws changed and you now have to be 18 to do a tandem dive. Disappointment of the 11 year plan crumbling doesn’t begin to describe her emotions for her sweet 16! And needless to say we had nothing else planned because that was going to be so expensive. So now we must rally and find other things to be happy about. Instead she got an aquarium, a new set of pajamas (Travis called it her “birthday suit”), a gold “Sweet 16” necklace charm & chain, and a new purple iPod nano. We also took her to the bank to open her own checking account, Starbucks for an afternoon snack after picking Trevor up to spend the afternoon with her, and then we all went to eat at LaShish, her choice for her birthday dinner. It was Mao's first time to eat Lebanese food, but she enjoyed the shrimp and gyros. GG came with us there as a surprise and Kazum (the owner) had a special birthday cheesecake waiting just for her!!I think we managed to regroup and have lots of fun anyway. Now if I can recover from the shock of having a 16 year old…

“Today was my birthday! I had a great b-day! We picked up my bf and hung out at my house for a while, and then we went out to eat. It was awesome. We went to eat at my favorite restaurant, Lashish, where they surprised me with a VERY cute birthday cake with a fairy on top. I got some awesome b-day presents including a beautiful sweet 16 golden necklace, a purple iPod, some cute pj’s, a fish tank, and some yummy dark chocolate! It was the best birthday I could wish for.”

Mom's turn: New Year's Traditions

So most regions have some sort of food traditions associated with New Year’s Day. In the South – it’s black-eyed peas and cabbage. We were lucky enough to have another fresh from the garden cabbage ready just in time for lunch!! :-D The other thing that seems to be more of a family tradition is enjoying a pickled peach for dessert! This must be genetic because everyone on my husband’s side of the family, including my DD, loves these things, but the rest of us that were married in think they are the nastiest thing in the world!!! To each their own.

Travis likes his cornbread smothered


Teeny prefers it on the side

fresh jar from Aunt Sherry's pantry

Mom's turn: Nutcracker

Travis picked up two very large bags of pecans when he went hunting for deer on his uncle’s farm this week. At least he came home with something ;-) However, today he has spent ALL day cracking and shelling them. What a chore! We ended up with five bags when he was finished. Thankfully my FIL had an actual nutcracker, not the little man either, that he let us borrow to make the job go faster…well, as fast as possible. Now we will have fresh pecans frozen for recipes all year long! I really want to try and make some candied pecans…but that would go against my low-carb training diet ::sigh:: What a dilemma :-D

Samson likes pecans, too!

holiday tradition.

Each year around the holidays we have a tradition of making persimmon bread. It is delicious! My grandpa has a tree, and since he doesn’t eat them, we have a ton! Well this year mean old hurricane Gustavo knocked ALL the persimmons off the tree so we could not have any bread! We just could not stand not having bread for breakfast and snacks though, so my mom made pumpkin bread! It is equally as delicious as the persimmon bread, so I think next year we will be very confused on which one to make.

Mom's turn: my birthday wishes came true

My fantastically talented daughter finished the necklace she gifted me for my birthday. It turned out so beautiful…but of course I’m not surprised. Her talent has taken off and I’m lucky enough to reap the rewards. She stitched my necklace with iridescent hexagon beads and turquoise seed beads in a Russian spiral pattern. She left it up to me to pick the colors and charm and she chose the pattern. I also found the most delicately carved silver holder to go with it where she takes her lessons, The Bead Company. I was so enchanted with the finished product that I needed a chance to show it off, pajamas just didn’t do it justice! So I made reservations at the Melting Pot for a mother/daughter dinnerwhere we had the cheese and chocolate special. I must admit that the cheese was great, but the yin-yang chocolate was to DIE for!!!!!!! We even had seconds on the dippers!

Fantasy sushi!

Sushi is my ALL TIME favorite food! I LOVE sushi! Also, my favorite fruit is mango. So when we went to get sushi the other day at Kamado's, and they had the fantasy roll which had mango in it, we just had to try it! It was awesome and very nicely displayed! Kamado's is located 2 places: one is on Sherwood Forest and the other is on Bennington right off of College Dr. If you enjoy sushi I would highly recommend going and trying this roll! Enjoy!

Mom's turn: Spooktacular Sports

Soccer Dad

Soccer Mom

Christina had a soccer tournament, the 14th annual Halloween Midnight Madness, in Mandeville this weekend. She played three tough and very physical games matched up with older teams, so today she was moving slowly and recovering with an ice bag! We had a great time and the team even made the Time’s Picayune (unfortunately I don’t subscribe, so if anyone has a spare copy, please share). We were there for 12 hours on Saturday – the girls even painted their faces for the late night game.

our goalie, Dani

Teeny was uncooperative, so we ganged up on her and held her down!! HA, no match for a team of determined, giggling girls. Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

Sunday was not as long, just one very early morning game.

Samson was NOT going to be left behind on Sunday!!

I spotted a drifter in the middle of the game – a scissor-tailed flycatcher; he was a long way from home. They are the Oklahoma state bird which was fascinating to me since that is where I originated from and never remember seeing one as I grew up! I’m including some information and other people’s pictures, as mine is not very good. Unfortunately I brought the wrong camera for both night time soccer games and bird watching! Afterwards, Travis surprised us and took us to a fabulous little French bistro, Café Lynn, for brunch where we each tried something different and delicious: rabbit in a red wine sauce – the special, crab meat & 4 cheese cannellini, and jumbo lump crab & Swiss omelet with three different desserts to follow!! THAT’S the way to celebrate!!!

one of her many tournament trophies!

tournament shirt...a MUST have at any tournament

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

From its long tail to its famous "sky dance," no other Oklahoma bird is more striking and identifiable than the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. It was officially adopted by the State Legislature May 5, 1951 as the Oklahoma state bird. The common name is derived from its former Latin name-Muscivoria forficata, meaning "flying"-"scissors" and "to devour." In Oklahoma, scissortails can be found on open prairies, along tree-lined roads, and along roadsides perched on fences, limbs and in isolated trees. They consume a great number of grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and other ground-dwelling insects making them economically important and popular with farmers and ranchers.
Soon after the birds arrive in the state, the males begin their famous "sky dance," a popular site along roadsides during spring and early summer. After climbing about 100 feet in the air, the male makes a series of V-shaped flights, and then plunges down in an erratic zigzag course often somersaulting while uttering a rolling, cackling call. The performance has been described as "an aerial ballet of incomparable grace." Nesting usually takes place in an isolated tree 7-30 feet above ground. Often two broods of 4-6 each are raised during the summer.
Scissor-tailed flycatchers are easily identified by their long scissor-like tail, which may reach nine inches in length. During flight the bird opens its tail like a pair of scissors and folds or closes the "scissors" when perching. The nape of its neck and its back are pearl gray, and the breast is white. Wings are sooty black with a touch of scarlet at the shoulders. The principal threat to scissortails is poaching. A great number of birds have been killed by poachers who wanted only the bird's tail.
http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net/State%20bird.htm

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1170/536647403_5f960473e3_o.jpg&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/mcaliens/536647403/&h=908&w=1226&sz=109&hl=en&start=43&um=1&usg=__Fm2wFyC8NIUQsrUThF7dRKyIIl8=&tbnid=GkgBYk3PgL3XSM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DScissor-tailed%2BFlycatcher%26start%3D36%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Mom's turn: Hurricane Buffet

When you have no electricity and you’re hungry, you quickly adapt! So – the best thing in a blackout is a banana, honey, & peanut butter sandwich with apple chips & milk!! Lots of carbs for a quick energy boost and lots of protein to keep it going; needed for the neighborhood inspection and debris removal to follow!!

There are also some combos that you would never dream of if they weren’t forced! Like: wine, hamburgers, lima beans, Texas toast and chips. UHHHHHHH – just how many carbs DO you need for energy??? Anyway – we’re back to that “cooking it before it ruins” thing. When you have a freezer full of stuff it’s painful to watch it all melt and waste. We were lucky enough to have a gas stove, so we cooked a bunch and shared with the neighbors. They, in turn, shared their snacks. And as my very wise girlfriend pointed out, “you have plenty of candles and wine is good at room temperature, too.”

Mom's turn: Friends from afar

My friend Sara, from Tulsa, came down to visit for a week...and what a week it was!! Full of giggles and adventures - just like elementary school again! She had a "list" of things she wanted to do - my kinda girl! So off to accomplish them as soon as I picked her up from the airport.

Sara’s “List” to do:

-Fly on a plane after 18 years check
-See Mamma Mia check
-Go to water park – Blue Bayou check

had a blow-out in my favorite hat

-Wear a swim suit after 18 years check

she waited 18 years to wear a swimsuit and then encountered a good old fashioned Louisiana afternoon thunderstorm!

-Go to the zoo
-Go to the beach
-Eat new stuff…not raw oysters check

an awesome "4 seasons pizza" from Louisiana Pizza Kitchen...YUM

-LSU – meet Mike check
-See Baton Rouge check

stylin' in "the bug"...what better way to see the city?!?!

-See New Orleans check

can't escape without an infamous mask...TOURIST! ;-)

-See an above ground cemetery check

-Get a tattoo (unfortunately due to our first day of playing in the sun at Blue Bayou this had to be put on hold because of a sunburn)
-Spin class check...and she survived! What a trooper
-Yoga check
-Beading class (missed the actual class...but Teeny was able to give her several pointers)
-Ride the Segway check
-Watch your back yard birds check
-Voodoo store check

from the most famous lady around...Marie Laveau

-Scrapbook together check

-Eat your garden foods check
-Learn to knit check

-Teach me how to create a blog like yours check

take a look and encourage her to actually POST now at:http://gypsyphoenix328.blogspot.com/

-Learn about UOS check
-Meet your friends check
-Take lots of pictures DOUBLE CHECK

-Have your HH as our designated driver! check...he toured us all over New Orleans in grand style. Thank you honey - you're the best!

We almost got it all accomplished...but more importantly we had the most fun ever trying!!! It was wonderful and made me feel like a kid again!!! LOVE YOU!