Wednesday Recipe

I have been trying to come up with ideas to make my little blog more interesting and fun. I never in a million years thought I would actually enjoy blogging, but I'm having a blast! While I was brainstorming I thought it might be fun to have Wednesday as my recipe day. At least I will have recipes in writing that I CAN'T lose. I always find great recipes and jot them down on some random scratch paper then end up "misplacing" it then I can't remember where I got the recipe to begin with. So here is my first recipe. I actually got this one from my best friend and believe it or not it is so good. Kinda fattening, but delicious!! If anyone decides to try them let me know what you think!

Spicy Crackers (great along with a salad or by themselves as a snack!)

1 box of saltine crackers (name brand works better for some reason)
1 1/2 cup of Canola Oil
1 teaspoon of Kian Pepper
1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix
Pour all contents into 1 gallon lidded jar
Turn every 30 minutes for 3 hours (Total of 6 turns. You don't have to turn the container exactly at 30 min. If you go over a little it's no big deal!)
No the oil does not make the crackers soggy, though that's exactly what I asked.

Medical Fund for Gavin

A medical fund has been set up for Gavin at Bank of America. As all of us parents know it IS NOT cheap to go to the doctor. She posted on her blog yesterday in an update that Gavin has to endure 52 weeks of chemotherapy. Poor little guy! However there is good news!!! The fluid that was taken from his spine (after only 1 week of chemo) showed no signs of cancer cells. What wonderful news!!! I'm sure they were just overjoyed to hear something positive after weeks of bad news. Please keep Gavin and his family in your prayers! The power of prayer is going to heal this sweet little boy! Also, please take the time to visit her blog for updates at http://smithscooptexas. blogspot. com/

If you would like to donate to Gavin's Medical Fund his mom said there was two ways to do so.

1. Send a check, made out to "Gavin Smith Medical Fund", to the following address:
Bank of America, TX 2-551-01-014023
4023 Cedar Springs Road
Dallas, Texas 752192.

2. Go into any Bank of America location and ask to make a deposit into the "Gavin Smith Medical Fund". If they have difficulty knowing what to do, we've been told to remind the teller that this is a special account. The manager on duty should know exactly what to do, if the teller has trouble.

Birthday blues

So today is my 31st birthday. For whatever reason I'm feeling a little down in the dumps and I really don't know why. I mean last year I turned 30 and it felt like the world was ending. Then after a little bit I started to realize that I really liked being thirty and was looking forward to my 30's. So I figured 31 would be a piece of cake, but it's not. Maybe it's because my fiance, who is 6 1/2 years younger than me has never used a Polaroid camera or has never watched Dynasty, which makes me feel incredibly old. Maybe it's because when I look in the mirror I see wrinkles that weren't there last year. It could be because when I look at my child I no longer see a baby but a young boy that will soon be a young man. All of these things are reminders to me that life is whizzing on by and isn't going to stop for me to apply my anti wrinkle cream. Either way, I'm sure these feelings will pass in a few days and I will embrace 31 with open arms!

Our little talk about death

I have never hidden the reality of death from Alex. Some may not agree but in my opinion it's a fact of life and I want my child to know about it. I don't lie to him and tell him that mommy will live forever etc. He went to a my uncles funeral and even went to the body viewing. Did he really understand the finality of death? No, I'm pretty sure he didn't. In his mind "gone forever" is to hard to understand. However, here recently I have noticed a big change in him. His thought process is alot different and he is starting to really think about things. Last night I was checking the channel 8 news on the Internet. They had a picture of a man dressed in his army uniform who had been killed in the war. They were announcing his funeral and had a really nice article about him and his family. Alex saw the picture and asked who he was. So I read the story to him and explained that this wonderful man went to war for our country and unfortunately he died while doing it. Alex sat there for a few seconds thinking. I could literally see his wheels turning! Then our discussion begins! He says "mommy, there is a kid in my class who wants to be in the army and go to war." I'm thinking oh great he's going to want to do the same. Not that I don't admire those who go off and fight for our country, but the thought of my baby boy going terrifies me. "I was like oh well that's interesting, what do you think about that?" He was like (mind you while he's doing this he's rolling his eyes) "well I don't really want to do that, it kind of scares me." then he tells me about his little friend. "he isn't scared to go, but he doesn't understand things." "jeez, doesn't he know that when he goes to war he could die! then NEVER come back?!" I just sat there silently listening to him wondering how in the world he has changed so fast. It has happened almost overnight! He then told me that this little boy really believes that when you die you come right back to life. He then tells me "Mom, I know God loves us all so much, but he can't just go poof and bring you back to life!" I thought wow he really does listen to me (to some degree anyway!) and now he has thoughts and opinions for himself! I agree with him and verify that no God can't just go poof and bring us back to life. Then we move on as fast as we got there. If someone would have told me six months ago that age 7 would bring SO many changes, I would have never believed them!

Update on Gavin

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give an update on my friend's little boy Gavin who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Poor little guy!! Please continue to pray for him and his family.

From Stacie's Blog www.smithscooptexas.blogspot.com/
"Gavin began vomiting early in the day and continued to do so until we took him back to the oncology clinic here at Children's this morning around 10:30. I say HERE at Children's because we were admitted back into the hospital this evening. Gavin was pretty listless all day. He was dehydrated and just feeling all around lousy. Around 5:00 tonight he spiked a fever, exactly 101.5 degrees! We were already awaiting a bed as it was. That was probably a good thing. Otherwise, we would have driven all the way home in traffic only to turn around and head this way again. They've started some heavy duty antibiotics and sent off a blood culture. Luckily, the first dose of Tylenol broke his fever, but it's likely to keep spiking. They take any spike in fever seriously with kids like Gavin, as he is now also neutropenic. This means he has pretty much NO immunity and lacks the white blood cells that would normally help fight infection and get him better. We may likely be here for awhile."

Fine Arts After The Bell

Alex has participated in FAB (Fine Arts After the Bell) for two years now. It is a wonderful fine arts after school program that his school offers. He has taken everything from drama to music. His favorite is music and he loves to play all of the different instruments. Here is the picture that was featured in the Tulsa World (our local newspaper) the first year of FAB. We were very proud!!

A few random pictures

Today I was going through some files on my computer and found a few pictures of Alex from the past couple of years.







Here is Alex at the beach in South Padre Island. His Poppy helped him dig this big whole!

He worked really hard!

Here he is trying to be like a pirate


My little cowboy!



Easter 2006

What big teeth you have

At the moment I only have one son so I really have no other experience except for babysitting when I was younger. When it comes to certain aspects of parenting I rely heavily on advice and books. Alex has already lost 8 baby teeth. He lost his first tooth when he was 4 and they haven't stopped falling out since then. Back in August he lost his front two teeth. Now when he lost his four bottom teeth they came in right away, so I was expecting the same to happen with the front teeth. Christmas rolls around still no front teeth. It was the family joke that all Alex wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth! By March he STILL has no front teeth and I notice the two teeth on either side of missing teeth are very loose. Panic began to sit in. Ridiculous as it may sound, I was actually thinking we were going to have to get fake teeth because he has no permanent teeth on the top! So I make an appointment with his dentist and get him all checked out. He tells me everything is fine, normal and not to worry. I'm thinking this guy must not have kids because how can you NOT worry!? Then again he is a man... About a week later, still no sign of those two front teeth, his other two top teeth fall out. Now he is missing all four top teeth and looks kind of like someone punched him in the mouth knocking out all of his teeth. To watch the poor child eat is painful. You might as well forget about giving him a whole apple! Then about a week ago, mind you 8 months after the first tooth fell out, I see the signs of a tooth!! It was cause for a celebration! This morning we were looking in the mirror and I couldn't help but notice how incredibly BIG his teeth are. Is this normal?? I'm sure it is but it will definitely take some getting used to.

Figure of Speech

Last night as I was cooking dinner I heard Alex yell "Mom, Hammie just ate my snack!!" Hammie is our 6 month old weenie dog that we got for Christmas. Now I know it is almost impossible that Hammie, the dog that has little stubs for legs, could have gotten into Alex's snack without a little help. That help comes from Lucky our two year old Jack Russell Terrier. So I go into Alex's bedroom to find an empty plate, a very mad six year old, and two little dogs staring up at me innocently. This scenerio is an everyday occurrence in our household especially since we added little Hammie into the mix. So I picked up the plate, reassured Alex dinner would be ready soon and headed back to the kitchen. About a minute later I hear Alex yelling again..."Mom, Hammie has your shoes!!!" By now i'm so irritated i'm wondering who I could call that would want to take my two dogs and keep them. The pound is even crossing my mind. As i'm walking into Alex's room i'm muttering to myself "i'm getting rid of you two dogs". I pick up my shoes, or what's left of them, and start heading back to the kitchen again. Alex is trailing behind me and when I look around I notice he has the most worried look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Mommy, you aren't really going to get rid of the dogs are you? I really love them." Now when I said i'm going to get rid of you two dogs I really didn't mean it. No matter how irritating my dogs can be I love them to pieces and they are apart of our family. It was just a figure of speech but how do you explain that do a six year old? Well I wouldn't have had to if I didn't say "Alex, it was just a figure of speech!" He would have been fine with a simple "oh mommy was just mad at them" and "I would never get rid of the dogs." I just had to say "figure of speech". What does that really mean anyway? So I did my best and we went on with our night once Alex was convinced the dogs weren't going to be shipped off while he was asleep or something. Bed time rolls around and I tell Alex it's time to brush his teeth and get in bed. He turns looks at me and never misses a beat while saying "that's just a figure of speech, right?!"

Spring Fever

I'm sitting here at work writing....yes I probably should be working a little harder but I have a major case of spring fever. It's cloudy outside and it's suppose to rain until next week but it's so warm. I can think of a million other things I would rather be doing besides sitting here at work. Of course when the weekend rolls around it ALWAYS turns cold again. I forsee a hookie day in my future...or "hockey" as Alex used to say. Maybe it isn't good parenting to "skip" work and school. I'm not talking all of the time, just once in a blue moon. I mean how can anyone refuse "mommy can we play hockey today, please? I want to snuggle!" As I watch my son grow, I am reminded daily that there will come a time when he won't want to snuggle with his mommy anymore so I try to take advantage of it while it lasts!

Please pray for Gavin

A dear friend of mine is going through every parents worst nightmare. Her son Gavin, who is three, has been diagnosed with a rare type of brain cancer. Please take a moment and say a prayer for this family. You can check for updates on his progress at her blog at http://www.smithscooptexas.blogspot.com/
As a parent I can not imagine going through something like this. It makes you realize how precious and short life really is.

Spring Cleaning

Well this weekend we decided to do a little spring cleaning. To be honest it much MUCH overdue. We still had stuff in boxes(which we had conviently hid in the closets) from the last two moves. We have moved twice since August...that is a whole other story. Of course we keep up with the daily cleaning. It's the stuff you can't see that is the problem. Now i'm the type of person that will get something in the mail or even get a gift that I know deep down I will NEVER use but I simply can't throw it away. I honestly think I may have a small hording problem. I'm always thinking "what if I need it someday?" I will admit i'm not the most organized person either. I like to call myself an organized mess! Maybe that's how I justify the mounds of paperwork that somehow magically seem to pile up. I was extremely overwhelmed when we began and I can't tell you how many times I wanted to quit. I kept telling myself just put it back in that closet and no one will see it....but I kept going and actually FINISHED!! I was so excited to see all of the extra space in our closets! The trick will be to somehow keep it neat and organized. If any of you guys have any suggestions or great organization tips please let me know!!

Proud Parent Moment

Our son Alex, who is in the first grade, participates in an after school program offered through his school called Fine Arts After the Bell (FAB). They started this program last year and we were so excited to get him signed up! This semester we put him in the music class. He LOVES music. They have learned to play an assortment of instruments and of course sing lots of songs. So last night was his spring performance. After the performance they were having "nickel nite" where you could purchase food items for a nickel. I'm sure most of you with kids can relate to anything, even cafeteria food, that costs a nickel is a heck of a deal! All week I had heard nothing but "mom it's almost nickel nite!" and "I can't wait!" and "Are you sure you are coming???!!!" I leave work extra early so I can make it on time and not miss a moment of his big debut. The whole way home i'm praying dear God please don't let me have a flat tire or even worse have a wreck. I can't be late! All went smoothly...no car troubles or traffic jams. My fiance and I made it there at almost exactly the same time and hurridly ran to the front office to sign in and fill out some survey. At this point i'm highly annoyed. Who has time for a survey? I just want to see my child perform! Finally, we got all of the paperwork out of the way, got our meal ticket and headed to his class. His little face just lit up when he saw us! Then of course he started to act like a crazed animal and managed to get in trouble by his teacher multiple times because he couldn't sit still. Finally the moment we have all been waiting for......our little guy got up and played "Are you sleeping" on the xylophone all by himself! Then they sang a song (i can't remember the name of it)and when it was his turn to sing with his partner he belted out words that probably only sounded good to us, but i'm thinking American Idol is in his future. After their little performance we all went to the cafeteria and sat at REALLY small tables where we ate hotdogs, chips and fruit. Even though the relish was neon green and the mustard was so thick it wouldn't come out of the packets it was the best meal I've had in a long time. Of course I have no pictures or videos to post because we forgot the camera!!

New to all of this

Okay so today is my first attempt at this blogging stuff. I first began by googling "how to start your own blog." Wow! There is a plethera of information out there and I soon found it to be pretty overwhelming. So I just figured what the heck i'm going to give it a try. Of course I have heard of blogging so I kind of have an idea of how it all works. I honestly never really thought it was for me. Lately however, I have been really thinking about how cool it would be to share a little piece of our lives with others. So here we go. Our family is going to take the plunge and go on this adventure and see where it takes us!