Another great idea for Monday's Blogging Photo Assignment, courtesy of Not a Cookie Cutter!

What are you eating?


It's not necessary to throw in the recipe, but if it looks yummy, don't be surprised if I come looking for you!


I won't bother putting the recipe down for my meal. It's SHRIMP GUMBO! ~Laisse Les Bon Temps Rouler~ This is one of our favorite meals. It's rich, thick and very flavorful.




So, show us your meal from any day of the week. It can even be your breakfast!

Yummy Food!

The best thing about a pumpkin, are the seeds inside! I love roasted pumpkin seeds. It's the best fall tradition around my house! Here's my YUMMY FOOD recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.


Clean and air-dry pumpkin seeds; Preheat over to 250 degrees.

1/2 stick of butter (melted)
2-3 tablespoons of steak seasoning (or any multi-purpose seasonings)
1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice (which is cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice)

Coat the seeds in the melted butter and seasonings.
Place on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 1.5 hours. Stir every 30 minutes. Seeds should be dry and crunchy! We eat them whole!

Enjoy!

Haphaz Mama

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My name is Erica and thanks for stopping by!

I'm a wife to an amazing husband, who I have to honestly say is my perfect match. He's the funniest person I know and because he's so shy and introverted, I'm also the only person in the world who knows he's the funniest person in the world. Shhhh, it's our little secret. No need for word to get out!

I'm also a mom to two of the most beautiful and sweetest girls ever. They are smart, independent, loving and kind. Who could ask for anything more?

I am by far one of the most blessed people I know. Sometimes I don't always remember how blessed I really am, but strive daily to at least once during the day thank God, my Lord and Savior for the blessings I call *my* family.

I'm a child of the MOST HIGH GOD and I am not afraid to share my faith. I attribute my very life to His saving grace, because truth be told, I was... oh, who am I kidding... I am a wreck without God in my life.

So, welcome to my blog. I *try* to be funny here and my sarcasm doesn't always convey. I'm rarely mean (on my blog), although I do have a mean streak running through me at a very particular time of the month and sometimes I get diarrhea of the mouth.

I'm a budding photographer and I love capturing the exciting AND mundane moments in our lives. I'm creative and I love to cook and read. I'm also a loyal and honest friend.

I like to try out new things and I've dubbed myself to be a professional craft dabbler - only doing things mediocre at best because I get bored and move on to new and exciting things.

I'm a fierce rule follower and oftentimes get frustrated when people break the rules, so don't make me hurt you. I enjoy being physically fit and working out is my one self indulgent passion.

Finally, my family is my priority. My purpose in this season of my life is to serve them with joy, gladness and all of my heart.

I hope you enjoy my little piece of real estate.
Much love,
Erica

another test... c'mon blogger, what's the deal?

Buy my shirts!

I saw a link of So Many Joys website about custom t-shirts and I thought I'd give it a whirl! After getting utterly and completely frustrated with Cafe Press, I tried Zazzle! I loved it!

It was fun creating my own designs and seeing the final product.



"Madame Queen" is what Randy's grandpa, E.R. always referred to his wife. I always thought it was cute, even if it was meant to be sarcastic at times. So, I adopted it for myself!

Try creating your own designs! It's fun! Or, you can just email me to create a design for you.

Great Deal!

Several weeks back, I posted about this awesome "tote bag to end all tote bags" that I bought at The Container Store. Well, I found some on eBay and they are a great price! You won't be disappointed with this Reisenthel Carrybag! LOVE IT! (BTW, I bought one from this eBayer last week!)

See what I mean?

 

Introducing - "STYLISH ELISAN" 

Stylish Clothes

No, this isn't about me and my quest for better dressing. No, this post is about Elisan and her quest for better dressing.

A coupla weeks ago, I brought out some clothing for Elisan that I had purchased while she was at school. It was just a few things I got at Walmart, but I have to admit, they were really cute.

She immediately said, "Mommy, I don't like them, I love them!" and then proceeded to dance around singing, "I have stylish clothes! I have stylish clothes!"

Okay, first up... she's FIVE! Oh my goodness. What's up with that? Stylish clothes? Who told her about that? And how did she even know that word?

Truthfully, it's not a word we use around here. Yes, it's true... none of us are stylish.

But, to use it in the happy dance? I was baffled.

Nonetheless, the moment passed, I forgot about it.

Fast-forward to last week. Elisan is allowed to wear regular clothes (or pretty clothes) on Fridays and forego the boring school uniform. So, last Friday, she said she wanted to wear her STYLISH clothes.

So, I'm thinking to myself... what are we getting into now? Are the days gone where I could pick out her clothes and she'd wear them without complaint? Am I now required to take her with me, as I clothes shop for her, to ensure that she is indeed stylish?

Let me remind you... she's five!

And the final blow... At church on Sunday, our beloved Children's Pastor told Elisan she looked stylish! STYLISH! Of all the words to use, she used "stylish!"

(Insert sigh and groan) I'm so totally finished.

SCORE!

Today, I headed out to the local Goodwill.

All of my friends know that I love Goodwill and why not? It's one of the best re-sale shops around - without the high prices, like some consignment shops. So, imagine my surprise when I found this:


I've never owned a D&B purse, so I can not attest to it's authenticity. However, I've been around long enough and seen my fair share of knock-off's and this is definitely NOT a knock-off. It still has the wonderful leather smell to it.

The only "flaw" if you could call it that, is that it doesn't have the signature D&B fob.

And, the best part? I paid $5.99 for it! SCORE!

I love Goodwill and now you know why!

Getting Organized

Contrary to popular belief, I am not as organized as I appear to be. However, I do like to be organized, but sometimes it only comes when I'm thoroughly disgusted with the (lack of) organization of an area of my house.

This brings me to the girls' craft cabinet. A few weeks ago, I posted on the weekly Blogging Photo Assignment that my favorite piece of furniture to be the antique pie shelf that belonged to Randy's grandparents. The cabinet is a great place to store the girls' stuff because of it's easy access, plus, it's in the kitchen where they do their activities, crafts and projects. It's perfect and if I didn't have this piece of furniture, I know that it would be clutter mayhem around my house.

However, when I posted the picture of the cabinet, I didn't show you what the inside looked like. And, that's because it looked like.... um,... Clutter mayhem. Despite it's appearances, everything inside was not neatly stored. Upon opening the door, something invariably always fell out! Forget about finding anything in there...

So, I tackled the cabinet and it's contents last week and this is the final outcome! I bought those awesome plastic bins at the Dollar Tree. They are neat because the lids close in the center, but do not lock in place, so the girls can easily get inside. I separated all of their stuff and labeled it into catergories - crayons, play-doh, polly pockets, markers, paint, etc. And stuffed their coloring books and paper on the bottom. It looks great and the girls LOVE it! I love it! We're all very happy with the outcome. The best part is that NOTHING falls out when the door is opened! I have one more spot for another bin, for when they take on another activity that requires storage!

Amazing how $11.00 changed my life!

Now, go out and GET ORGANIZED and post a picture for us to see!

Thank you to our tea-sip friends!

My husband is giddy with excitement! That's because he "scored" (his words) tickets to the A&M vs. UT game to be held the day after Thanksgiving. For those who have lived under a rock for their entire lives... Texas A&M and UT play their game on this particular weekend, every year. It's tradition!

A great big HOWDY goes to my dear friend LA and her husband, Matt for the tickets! You see... they moved to NY last year (boo-hiss!) and can no longer go to the games. But, I don't think Matt is ready to relinquish his season passes, just yet!

So, who is Randy taking with him to the game? Well, I can tell you this... I was not invited! Randy, instead invited his brother.

Eh, what do I care? I'm not an Aggie and I'm not a Longhorn.

I'm an Aggie-by-marriage!

With Fall in full swing and Halloween around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate for this week's Blogging Photo Assignment to be focused on the Fall/Halloween Seasonal Decorations! Pick your favorite and show us yours!



This is my Fall decor. Fabulous, isn't it? I know, it's mediocre at best. And, since our family doesn't do the Halloween thing, this is pretty much it!


Show us yours!

Girl Talk

Today I just want to ramble about my girls!

We celebrated KM's birthday last week and here's a picture of her at the party.She had a great time and loved every minute of it. It was wonderful to see my family, even if the trip was brief. I'm glad to be there, but I'm as equally glad to leave. The girls have a fabulous time visitng with their grandparents and the grandparents dote on them non-stop. It also gives Randy and me a nice break from the girls - so, it is a win-win! Elisan says she's going to move there when she grows up, but I tell her that she's going to have to live with us forever and take care of us! Why is it that our grandparent's homes are always some magical place that we love and hold dear to our hearts, even as we get older?

Elisan is loving school and amazes me on a daily basis. She is learning to read and is even more quizzical than ever. Her teacher calls her "cutie-patootie" which is what I call her sometimes, which makes it even more sweet. Elisan's teacher is awesome and we love her. Sending Elisan to private school is the best sacrifice we could have ever made. I realize that now.




Elisan often says she wished she could go to the same school as some of her friends in the neighborhood, but I quickly remind her that she is very lucky to get to go to her school. I tell her that she is lucky because she gets to PRAY at school, learn about the Bible and celebrate holidays like Christmas - and learn the true meaning of it. Since Elisan has been in some type of religious education for her entire life - whether it is at church or pre-school and now, Kindergarten, she really doesn't realize that simple things like saying Grace before a meal, can be viewed as disrespectful to certain sects.

Thank God, and I say that with all sincerity, that she is living a life that teaches her she can pray and she can learn about the Bible and she can live out her life according to what God expects from us. It's just awe-inspiring to me, especially in this day and age. And even though one could argue that I'm forcing "my" values and beliefs on my children, I am not. I am, instead, giving them the greatest gift I could ever give to them.

My girls are so precious to me. Their differences amaze me. It's hard for me to not compare Kyla to Elisan --size, shape, hair color, eye color etc. They are nothing alike and they even look so very different. It's hard to tell who favors who, but I'd venture to say that personality-wise, Elisan is 50% Randy and 50% me... funny how that works, huh? KM...well, I don't know who she belongs too. She belongs to herself, yet, calls me mommy anyway.

Part of my want to keep them little forever, but the other (small) part of me can't wait to see them blossom into beautiful, thoughtful, caring young ladies. That even in this world, in this day and age, that something beautiful can come from it.

I didn't know what to title this post and had three different titles describing what I thought I would write about. This post has evolved from random thoughtless thoughts to a tribute to my girls. I love them and I'm glad to be their mom.

Elisan all-time favorite sandwich is the chocolate sandwich, made with Nutella and peanut butter.

It was one of those things we discovered while in Denmark. We were visiting some friends and they had these neat little thin chocolate and hazelnut wafers that you put on toast and they melted on top of the warm bread. I don't know the name of them, or else I'd link it.

Anyway, I asked my friend about it, and she said it was much like the flavor of Nutella, but Nutella was a spread. I wanted... no, scratch that... needed to buy Nutella after I had tried the yummy treat!

The next thing we know, Elisan is only wanting to eat Nutella and PB. And to be honest, it's delicious! In fact, we've been back to Texas for over two years and she's still eating chocolate sandwiches which is why today's YUMMY FOOD installment is "CHOCOLATE SANDWICHES" made with Nutella.




Be sure to check out recipe sites like ALLRECIPES for more yummy recipes!

Whatta Man!

No, thank God, this is not a post about Randy and his bathroom habits... although, I could write some stuff that would make your toenails curl!

No, this is about Randy, poop and Kyla Mae.

Let me start by saying that Randy is a hard worker and has been rewarded for his hard work and dilligence over the last 10+ years working at his present job. It's no surprise that Randy has worked his way up the engineering ladder and I'm proud to say that he is part of the upper management at his plant.

Because of this, I always want/try to make a good impression when we are around his co-workers. Several weeks ago was Randy's company picnic. The girls and I were excited about the opportunity to meet some of Randy's new co-workers and see the old.

We had a great time. There was all of the cotton candy, ice cream, snow cones, sodas, BBQ (and all the fixin's) you could eat. There were pony rides, hay rides, an inflatable bounce house, a rock climbing wall, games, prizes... It was nice and the company spared no expense.

It was almost a perfect day... until...

Elisan wanted to play one of the games scheduled for the kids, but Kyla Mae did not. So, Randy brought her to the playscape while I stayed with Elisan.

After Elisan's game was over, we went looking to meet back up with Randy. We couldn't find him.

We hollered and hollered and nothing. So, we went to the bounce house and Elisan played a bit. Next thing I know, I see Randy and KM coming out of the bathroom.

Apparently, KM decided that she didn't want to stop playing long enough to alert her daddy that she needed to go poop, until it was too late.

From Randy's account, she emerged from the playscape with her pants and undies down, poop still hanging from her booty and poop on her hands, which was also smeared on the front of her shirt!

(Okay, think... company picnic... lot's of people... Randy's a manager... poop!)

He said, once he got her to the bathroom, the first order of business was washing the poop off of her hands! Yuck!

The second order of business was tossing the undies... they were not salvagable - at least, they weren't because there were no proper facilities to clean them.

Third, he stripped off her poop smeared shirt and washed it in the sink, meanwhile wiping the poop off of her booty with dry toliet paper.

I can just imagine the scene, as I'm sure most parent's can, because this is not the first time a newly potty trained child (or really, any child) has not stopped long enough from playing to go take care of business.

So, ahem... we left after that. That's it, party's over. Let's go.

Kyla Mae, was however, remorseful about the whole thing. She kept talking about how she pooped in her undies and how sorry she was.

(Note for KM: That's okay, baby girl. We all have accidents sometimes!)

With that said,

[CHORUS]
What a man, what a man, what a man
What a mighty good man (yes he is)
What a man, what a man, what a man
What a mighty good man (he's a mighty,mighty good man)
What a man, what a man, what a man
What a mighty good man (gotta say it again now)
What a man, what a man, what a man
What a mighty good man (yeah)
by Salt 'N' Pepa

Blogging Photo Assignment idea courtesy of
NOT A COOKIE CUTTER!

What's your favorite spice - or in my case, seasonings!

I use TEXJOY steak seasoning on everything!


In fact, when I'm back home, I stock up on TEXJOY because it is the best brand of seasonings I know of. The company TEXJOY originated and is head-quartered in Beaumont, Texas.



Show us yours!

Ouch!

Ouch! I've been without internet, and even as I type, I'm waiting for my ISP to bail on me AGAIN...

With that said, I'm here (for the moment) and waiting patiently for the technician to darken my door Tuesday afternoon, so I can get back to the business of blogging and eBaying!

Until then...

Yummy Food!

A new installment to my little bit of internet space entitled YUMMY FOOD! Feel free to grab my button and post your own yummy food recipe on your site.

This recipe is one of my favorite cake recipes. Don't let the layering freak you out. Just pop the cakes in the freezer for a short while and they are a cinch to cut in half.

This cake is beautiful and oh, so delicious! Enjoy!



Luscious Four Layer Pumpkin Cake
by Kraft Foods

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 1 hr 42 min
Makes: 16 servings, one slice each

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

4 large eggs

1-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1/4 cup caramel topping

1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Beat cake mix, 1 cup of the pumpkin, the milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp. of the pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

BAKE 28 to 30 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and remaining 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice; mix well. Stir in the whipped topping.

CUT each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife. Stack layers on serving plate, spreading the cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top of cake.) Drizzle cake with caramel topping just before serving; sprinkle with the pecans. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.

First Generation

I received an email from my (non-native Texan) friend Kimi about a recipe book that is going to be published featuring recipes from third generation Texan women.

I've always known my roots, but as I pondered the fact that I'm not a third generation Texas, or even a second generation Texan, it really took me aback.

For those who know me personally know that I LOVE TEXAS. Especially since having lived in Minnesota and Europe - albeit, briefly. But, there is no denying that I am a true life Texan... drawl and all.

So, when I "discovered" that I was only a first generation Texan, it a mild blow to my Texas ego. Only a Texan will understand where I'm coming from. Texas is a state of mind, not just a state.

I think people from other parts of the world will never "get" it and truly believe that Texans are strange cow-folk from the backwoods of some farm somewhere in the middle of Cut and Shoot - (which, for you non-Texans...that's a real town!)

Cow-folk or not, I'll take Texas any day of the week!

There is one third-generation Texan in our household and that's Elisan. Randy is a second-generation Texan, which makes her a third generation Texan (minus my genes!)

My poor little KM... She's not a native Texan at all. She's native Minnesotan and last I heard, there is no prize for that. Hopefully, she'll forgive us for that one day!

In the meantime, maybe I'll submit the recipe in Elisan's name. That is, if I had one! Maybe my Cajun maw-maw can loan me a recipe. Afterall, there's a lot of Cajun's in this part of the world, too.

What are your roots?

Down to the quick

How is it that a little person in all of her five years, can cut me down, right to the quick, in one fell swoop?

How is it that I can hear some of the worst human tragedy on the news or on the home-front, and not shed a tear... but, one comment from my little person in all of her five years, can bring me to tears?

What's worse, is that she'll never know how she hurts me, because she dosen't understand what she has done to hurt me. And really, it's not my place to tell her.

I just pray, that as the years pass and all of the love and nurturing that I show her, will help her to be more careful with people's feelings.

This is what you see as you enter our humble home. I would love to have a new door. In fact, it's on our "to do" list, but it is a low-priority level.

I'd also love to have a fall wreath, but spending money on something I don't get to see, except as I'm driving away, doesn't interest me right now. Ah, such is life.


Feel free to grab my button and publish to your blog!

Also, send me YOUR idea for Photo Assignment of the week!

It's official! I've had the BIGGEST BLONDE MOMENT of my life!

Oh, blogger...how you've betrayed me!

One of my friends IM'd me to say that they left a comment on my blog. So, I bop onto the blog, only to see that, "NOPE" there are no comments.

So I did a little investigating...

Sure enough, my comments were being moderated, which meant that I had to approve them to be published on my blog.

Um. Let's just say, there were over 50 comments that were sitting there waiting for me.

The comments were like little dollops of goodness when I read them, but I'm sad, I didn't see them when they were first posted!

Yes, I'm blonde, and a nerd.

So... comments are enabled! Post your comments people and know, that I'm not a nerd anymore!

(P.S. - Seriously, thank you for all of the comments! I thought I was writting out there to NO ONE!)

Snickers Bush vs. Gore

A blast from the past! This is my favorite all-time commercial! Enjoy!

In honor of my friend Leigh Ann, here's my creative project.

I made a set of stationery to give to Elisan's teacher for Christmas.

The Commute

I'm tired of commuting Elisan to school and it's only been 8 weeks!

The drive is horrendous and I'm not exaggerating. I travel approximately 12 miles to Elisan's school and it takes me 50 minutes to get her there.

Yes... Really.

I am a total stress ball by the time we arrive at the school, that I'm nearly shaking like a leaf. If there is a phobia for being stuck in traffic, I have it.

Luckily, I've been taking an alternate route the last couple of weeks and the traffic, albeit, is hectic, it is managed my signal lights, which guarantees movement on a regulated basis. It sure beats sitting on the freeway with no where to go!

However today, I made the terrible mistake of listening to the traffic report and decided that I'd check out the freeway route again, since the traffic guy said it was not too congested. Oh, boy! What a mistake that was!

We barely made it, with two minutes to spare. No unexcused tardy slips today! Whoohoo!


Another thing that irritates me about the morning commute is the amount of people talking on their cell phones.

I'm so sick of seeing people yakking on the phone and not paying attention to what's going on around them. I've had plenty of near misses with people talking on the phone.

It's like an addiction for some. They pick up the cell phone as soon as they get in the car. It's like a smoker, who lights up, in the same manner.

I am not totally blameless in this, since I have been known to use the phone in the car. However, I use good judgment when determining when it is not a good time to chat it up with friends and family.

I'm waiting for "driving while under the influence of a cell phone" to become illegal in Texas... Until then... Hang up and drive or move outta my way you relentless addicted cell phone abusers...um, users.