Because I'm too cheap to buy a card...

Happy Anniversary,

Doug E.Poo!

October birthdays

This past week was book-ended by birthdays!

Mary Grace and John Paul's birthdays are just a mere six days apart, which means lots of cake, presents, and celebrating...heck, it might as well be called 'Birthday Week!'

Mary Grace turned THREE!

I can't believe our sweet little baby is a big girl now!

We celebrated with a shopping trip to Build-A-Bear.  Mary picked a pink ballerina bear, complete with tutu and pink slippers. Pizza, cake, and ice cream were on the menu that evening as we had a book party for the birthday girl.  
She absolutely adores books!

A few days later, John Paul turned THIRTEEN!

He's very happy to finally be a teen ager now, and reminds us of his status quite frequently.  All he wanted to do on his special day was go to Barnes & Noble for books and then to the craft store for painting supplies. 
I cannot tell you how happy that makes me!

You might have noticed that the cakes look the same.  I found an awesome recipe on Pinterest for 'Crack Cake' because when you're thinking of a cake for children, you want to hear the words "crack" and "wine" right?

Crack Cake

**1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix 

1/4 c brown sugar 

1/4 c white sugar 

**1 box vanilla pudding instant mix 

**2 teaspoons cinnamon 

4 eggs 

3/4 c water 

3/4 c oil 

1/2 c white wine (really any kind) 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix the above ingredients by hand or hand mixer. 

 Grease a bundt pan. Pour into pan. Bake for 50 minutes.

 When cake comes out of the oven... 

 Melt 1 stick butter into 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup wine.

 Pour over hot cake. Cool. Flip out of pan onto plate and serve.

**JP wanted a lemon cake so I used: 

1 box lemon cake mix

1 box lemon pudding mix

2 teaspoons lemon zest

This cake is delicious and super moist!

It gets better the longer it sits,

so make it the day before!

Dark Ocean Dreams

Our son, Ryan, works for the salon Visible Changes.  Each year they offer up a hair show of up and coming talent.  Ryan and his partner for the event, Michael, competed along with 50+ other stylists in this year's theme:

 'Dark Ocean Dreams.'

From left to right: Ryan, Brittany, Michael

Their creation was this stunning

'Calypso Sea Goddess'

Unlike the other contestants, Ryan and Michael painted their model head to toe in beautiful sea green tones of make up.  They didn't use wigs, but the model's own hair which they molded around a balloon (then later popped to create a hollow shell of hair) that resembled an octopus.  Ombre green and blue extensions were curled into tentacles, and pearls and sequins framed her face along with lovely patina jewelry.  Her dress was completely hand made.

And as gorgeous as she is, 

the pictures just don't do their work justice!

She was truly a work of art.

She was also a favorite among the crowd, 

receiving deafening screams each time she walked the runway.

The guys had a great show and came in among the top ten, although, they were the winners of the whole show in my opinion!  We are so proud of Ryan and I am simply in awe of his talent.

He's only been with the company for three months.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for him, 

great things I am sure!

Congratulations, Ryan and Michael!!!

Heavy is the head that wears the crown

Mary Grace is turning 3 this weekend!

She received a cute fabric crown on her first birthday (Thanks, Mrs. Janet!)

but the poor thing is so worn and won't fit her anymore.

I figured it was time for a new one.

I followed this tutorial, 

and in about half an hour 

she had a brand new crown.

And of course she needed 

a matching dress to go with it.

The Geranium Dress from Made by Rae
is the perfect party dress.

Turning three is going to be awesome!

And so it begins...

I walked outside barefoot the other day and discovered that the pecans were ready.  OUCH!

And so it begins, 

harvesting, cracking, and eating of the pecans.

It's a good time of year y'all.  

Thankfully, Mary Grace will scavenge for pecans for hours!

Unfortunately, so will our dog, Abby.

She will eat them shells and all.

She loves them so much and stalks me 

as soon as she hears me cracking the shells.

Our first pecan treats this fall:

Turtles ~ Creamer style!

Place a layer of mini pretzels on a sheet pan 

and top with a Rolo candy on each one.

Put pan in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes.  

Top with pecan half and press gently.

Then place the pan in the freezer for a few minutes to set the chocolate up.

It's the perfect bite of salty, sweet, chewy, and crunchy!

Danny says we should top these with bacon next time...

don't tempt me child!

The Crochet Beanie

With cooler weather approaching, I've ditched my sewing machine and picked up my crochet hook to make some adorable beanies for the kids.

I am a self taught crocheter (is that even a word?).

And most of my projects have been from YouTube, 

in particular, from IHeartStitching

,

She shows you how to make everything from these adorable beanies to baby blankets, scarves, and dish cloths.  

The tutorials are simple and clear enough for a rookie like me, 

but look like they took hours to make!

And who doesn't love a warm, 

cozy hat for those chilly winter days?

Poop Happens!

Last week we were bombarded with lots of rain here in south Texas.  The natives were getting restless being cooped up for so many days, so I picked up some little things to keep them entertained.  One of the items was Play-Doh, because even at the age of 45, I still love the smell and squish of this stuff!

I also passed by a section of the toy aisle dedicated to pranking.  My boys LOVE pranking, especially when their victim is their father.  I saw a small Play-Doh like kit called...POO-DOH.

  

And as the mother of four boys, 

I knew my kids had to have it.

Let me tell you, this stuff did NOT disappoint!

There they were, the boys and Mary Grace, sitting around the kitchen table getting along, laughing, and telling every poop joke known to man...

and making every color of poop known to man...

for HOURS!

The kids got their prank on by putting some 

on the carpet for dad to discover after a hard days work.

Pretty real looking, right?

But being a veteran father of five, he fell for it for 

about half a second before getting retaliation.

A week later they are still giggling and joking about poop.  

They are also plotting and scheming.  

I'm not going to give away all the details, 

let's just say that the upcoming holiday season will be 

very eventful!

Running of the Bulls

On Sunday, Kyle and I participated in the 
Houston Texans 5k race, The Running of the Bulls.

Kyle is a HUGE Texans fan!  

So much so that he got up at 5:30am to head into Houston.  

Check out my still bloodshot eyes in our pre-race selfie...

The event was huge, but really fun.  The race course went all around NRG Stadium, the Astrodome, and the Texans practice field affectionately called "the bubble."  We really had the best time together and he totally pulled me through the race because I haven't worked out in weeks!

The race ended by running through the Texans Toro tunnel, which is the same one the football players run through at the start of games.  Here we are at the finish line, I'm a hot sweaty mess and Kyle didn't even break a sweat!

The after party was on the floor of the stadium, 

 which I believe was Kyle's whole motivation for going.

Well, that and CHEERLEADERS.

When Doug was about Kyle's age, he had some photo opps with the then Houston Oilers cheerleaders, the Derrick Dolls. 

Kyle thought it would be funny to recreate his dad's photo.

So here 'ya go...

Thanks for being my 5K buddy, Kyle!
But I think next time we'll ditch the cheerleaders 
and go on a zombie run instead!

Easy Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

I'm all about the quick and easy 

and that is exactly what this casserole is!

It's perfect for a no fuss breakfast or dinner and can even be made into soft tacos for a meal on the go.  Plus, it's super versatile to cater to the tastes of your family.

To make this casserole you'll need:

12 eggs

1 bag of frozen hash browns 

(I use "O'Brien" potatoes because they have peppers and onions already mixed in)

1 16oz roll of sausage

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup of milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Several dashes of Tabasco or Sriracha

Line your crockpot or spray heavily with cooking spray.

Brown sausage in a separate skillet and combine all the ingredients in your slow cooker.  Give everything a good mix.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or overnight.

Be aware that slow cookers have different cooking temps.  

Mine seems to cook very hot.  

Our casserole was perfect after 5 hours of cooking.

Change up the flavors by adding:

Bacon or ham

Spinach

Different cheeses

Hot or maple sausage

Pickled jalapenos

Green onion

You can even scoop this filling into flour tortillas, wrap the individual tacos in freezer paper, and freeze for an anytime snack, just microwave for 1 1/2 minutes when you're ready to eat.

Plus, if you use a liner, there will be no dishes to do.

THAT is probably my favorite part of this recipe!

 

Growing ginger

This is one of two patches of ginger I planted a little over a year ago.  I noticed that the leaves were starting to turn brown and so I decided to go ahead and harvest it.

A gentle pull to the base of the plant and the ginger came right up.  It was so gorgeous and fragrant that I went ahead and pulled up the whole darn patch.

I had initially planted a thumb sized piece of store bought ginger.  A year later, I now have well over 20 times that amount!  You don't have to wait a whole year like I did to get your own ginger harvest, but you do have to wait at least one season.  If you plant in the early spring, you can harvest by late fall.

Trust me, it's worth the wait!

Now to decide what to do with all this fresh ginger.

Ginger ale, ginger beer, gingerbread...

The newest altar boy...

Our sweet little Daniel Vianney served his first Mass

 yesterday morning!

We are so proud of him.

Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing upon them, 

that they may serve at your altar with reverence, attention, 

and love, in order to draw others to do the same. 

We ask this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen.