Summer is here

Yesterday was the last day of school.  It doesn't feel like summer vacation to me yet....
We planned a cook out and told both girls they could invite their friends.  And of course we invited a few people...
10 teenagers and 6 adults later...

Last week my sister texted me that she saw a t shirt Mike needed to embarrass the girls... I saw it in the store today and thought it was perfect for a night when they were having friends over...
"Dads against daughters dating"...
It took them awhile to notice but both were pretty put out when they did.  Mission accomplish...

 I will never get used to the wind here I don't think.  The first cook out of the season and it was so windy there was no eating outside...

 This was "warm up" plate of one of the teen boys...

 there were smores for one dessert option

And my dessert choice

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Ice Cream Sandwiches

They were wonderful!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Malt Cookies

1 cup plus 2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tps vanilla extract

1 lg egg

1/3 cup malted milk powder

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.  Cook butter in heavy saucepan over med. heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, then turns deep brown.  Pour browned butter into glass measuring cup and chill in freezer till semi solid.

Preheat over to 350 and line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Beat solidified brown butter, sugars, and vanilla at med. speed till creamy.  Add egg and beat slightly, then beat in malted milk powder.  Reduce speed to med. and gradually add flour mixture and beat till incorporated.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Form approx. 1 1/4" balls, place two inches apart on baking sheet.  Bake 9-10 min. or till golden.  Cool on wire rack.

Make these today.  They are great!



I hope the start of summer is fun for you this weekend.  Please celebrate with us by embarrassing your children.



It takes a long time to grow old friends

One of my oldest and best friends, Deana, came to see me this weekend. 

Well, she actually came to her niece's college graduation which happened to be here so it was really like her coming to see me and going to a graduation while she was here.
Her family is in Dallas so I don't see her very often since we've moved to Lubbock.  We never seem to be in Dallas at the same time.
I did see her every summer for the last several years because she lives in Branson near the camp we went to every summer. 
That was one of the worse parts about skipping camp this year was that I hated to not get to go see her.
Sooo, I was thrilled that she had a reason to visit me!

When I was 17 my mom died.  My dad was working out of the country so I had to move from Mississippi to Dallas to live with my (much)older sister.
This was quite an adjustment on many levels.
The very first Sunday I was there we went to my my sister's church and the minister introduced me to Deana.  We have been friends ever since.

We lived together through college and off and on till we added husbands to the picture.

I look back now and know what a gift she was to me.
She was a constant, stable, loving friend when I needed one.  And she came with a family who took me in like I was theirs.
I have always been grateful for them.

So, now that a 12 hour drive separates us I am always so glad for any visit!

She brought her two oldest girls and her mother even spent one night with us.
We talked and enjoyed every minute of it!
Our girls enjoyed each other and even pulled a little prank on the mama's...

I'm so glad our kids have fun together.

I did some senior pictures for one daughter...Katie had to be a creeper in one of them of course...

I really enjoyed her beautiful girl!

Let's do this again soon!

I'd love to help clean your room for Mother's Day

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.
Mine was very good.  I still never fail to realize how lucky I am to have these two girls.  Even now, when they are all teenager-y and sassy...
I also never fail to remember my mom.  I didn't get to keep her long enough... But she was a great mom while I had her.

This morning when I went to wake up Kellie for church, this is what I found

She was asleep on her floor next to a tray she had gotten ready to bring me breakfast in bed

How sweet is that? 

 It made my day!  Even though I didn't get that breakfast in bed. 

I told her she could bring me a snack in bed or dinner in bed...

Mike and the girls took me out for Mexican food after church.

and I rounded out the celebration with Katie cleaning her room

If you are missing any clothes they might be in that pile.

I know mine were.

She managed to get rid of two big bags full even though she told me she didn't have anything she needed to give away before she started...

I helped by sitting in the floor folding clothes and hanging up clothes with her for over an hour.

But, I did ask her to clean her room for my mother's day gift.  I knew I would end up helping and that's OK.  If only she' let me clean out her drawers!

I love being their mom.

All I need is a reason

You know cooking for people is my love language.
If if you are from Mississippi this is in born.... Wait, I just remembered my sister who will only make you brownies from a mix and then only for certain occasions and realized that if you're a good Mississippi girl you have this trait... 

Last week one of my good friends had a little surgery and I've used that as a reason to take her a couple of meals. 

Tonight with the Chicken Spaghetti I took for dinner, I took a Black Eyed Pea Corn Relish and a bag of fresh chips....
I am not a huge black eyed pea fan but knew that she is. 

and forgot how much I liked the black eyed peas in this...

Black Eyed Pea and Corn Salsa

1 lb. Frozen sweet corn kernels

1  can Black eyed peas, rinsed and drained

2 lg Tomatoes, diced

1 Avocado diced

1/2 Red Onion, diced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tbsp chopped Cilantro

1 lime, juiced

Tabasco to taste

Salt to taste

Thaw corn and drain well.  Combine all ingredients in a lg bowl and mix well. 

I never made it to the Chicken Spaghetti...



Lemon brownies, I could eat them all

May always seems like the busiest month.  We have something almost every night.
Last week we had a birthday, dance practices, theater practices, a dance recital and NJHS induction...
Katie has also added a part time job to the mix... a couple of more months and she'll be driving there without me.  As nice as that will be, you know that makes me sad...
She's working part time at a florist and gift shop that just opened.  I told her only working two hours it day it's going to take her forever to earn enough for a tank of gas...

I did some cooking so I could take dinner to friend.  I decided while I was cooking to make some treats to share with the neighbor and take to Bible study tonight...
If you like lemon you need to try these.  They are that good....

Gooey Lemon Brownies

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
10 tbsp butter melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
Mix all ingredients thoroughly, pour into 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for approx. 20 minutes till toothpick comes out clean with inserted. 

Remove from oven and cool slightly before glazing.

Glaze:
Mix one cup powdered sugar, 3 plus tbsp lemon juice, and zest of one lemon.  Add extra lemon juice or small amount of water till glaze is thin enough to pour.  Pour over cooled brownies.






A warning though, if after the brownies are done you find your melted butter still in the microwave go ahead and start over.  It is a key ingredient I found...

Her first broken heart

This week was pom tryout's for Katie.
She was on JV Pom last year.
This year she made the first cut, she worked so hard every night, and the dance looked perfect.
And she didn't make either squad.
And it's the worse thing I've been though yet with one of the girls.
I know it's just Pom.
But listening to how mortified she was not to have made JV again has been awful.
Her best friend made varsity.
She is sick about not being part of the the pom group that had quickly turned into her friend base.
She is embarrassed she didn't make it.
And she kept crying that the judges "forgot me".

I was not prepared for how it would tear my heart apart to see her that miserable.
We just hadn't had anything like this before.

But as I laid in bed praying all night instead of sleeping I realized how thankful I am that I've never had a more serious issue with the girls that made my heart feel like that. 
It's hard, I think Mike and I are just as sad as she is. 
But it's just pom.  And she will be ok.  I pray that there are bigger things in store for her this year!

I woke up with a sore throat, low grade fever and already had plans to take Kellie to Shrek the musical.
I slept through a good part of it...
I'm sure she was so proud to have that date with me.

This weekend is sure to get better tomorrow.

Moms and daughters and friends

Katie has a good friend whose mom I've gotten to know recently.
This past weekend we went on a mother daughter trip to Dallas for their 16th birthdays.  And for my Dallas friends, we snuck into town and Jennifer was the only one who knew....
What a treat to have one on one time with Katie and to have a friend for me.

We  checked into our hotel and that was reason enough for some pictures it seems...

We told them we could do that too

There was late night swimming

fun shopping

real shopping

Even though I'm not a huge shopper, since we've moved to Lubbock I can very much appreciate a good mall.

we got dressed up for dinner and a show

Jennifer joined us for dinner but we never got our food.  So, we enjoyed a nice glass of tea with her

and for our dining viewing we had a large crack to keep us entertained

We made it to the musical

 and spent some time with

Lili Whiteass

He/she was very entertaining

we had a midnight snack. 

Our friends are from California and had been missing this place

We slept in Sunday and then drove home. 

 It was a fun fun weekend!

Next weekend I'm making it up to Kellie with a date here in town.

It was good timing for the trip with Katie.  This week is Pom try outs. 

Have I mentioned she gets a little stressed????