queen at white castle

When my sister Lele first moved to New York over 10 years ago, we had no idea that she'd be here this long. It's not even *gasp* in the South!

I am really proud of Lele-- she has grown so much as a Christian, wife and now mother.

In all my years of visiting her, I have only been to two real tourist attractions-- the Empire State Building and Times Square. I realize that I need to remedy that soon... but not too soon, when the weather is cooler!

And now I can add one more thing to my list.

Don't laugh, y'all.

We don't have this in Houston and I've always wanted to try it.

When I told Lele about it she was not impressed. I liked the bread and the a/c and the price. I tried to ignore the flat piece of gray meat on it. Well, I didn't really think it was gray until Lele called it that, even though she wasn't even with me at the time. Way to ruin my memory, Lele!

Next time, I want to try these. I wonder if Robyn would approve?

Austin didn't join me in my feast. He has had Dunkin Donuts for lunch every day, which is another thing we don't have very many of in Houston.

We are so high maintenance, don't you think? And definitely not on any sort of diet this week.

While I ate my square little sliders in a box, he passed the time doing this...

And Lulu passed the time doing this...

Not the kind of NYC post most people write about. If I'm not too lazy, maybe I'll take some real city pics later today or Friday. I am hoping to make a stop at B&H too!

Do you have any odd (or dumb or other-people-might-think-it's-gross) places you want to visit? What's your White Castle?

Sweet Shot: babysitting

I get to babysit my niece this week.

ALL week, y'all.

In NYC.

The sacrifices I make for family, right?

Yup, Lulu is a tyrant. She sleeps through the night, eats well, takes 4 naps a day, and has this hilarious panting laugh that her parents have lovingly dubbed her "nerd laugh."

How I am suffering. Please don't ever not ask me to do this again.

She's so sweet, it kills me. From the top of her fuzzy head down to her roly-poly thighs and her petite little toes... I sure do love everything about my Lulu!

PS to RG: these shots are SOOC without a wide angle lens. see? you can go to NYC and survive with basic gear (and no PS or LR to get rid of the tungsten cast). this doesn't help you, does it?

o ruthanne, where art thou?

Laugh,

talk,

eat,

laugh,

click,

fabric shop,

drink lattes

geek out...

It's been a pretty fabulous couple of days, y'all.

I am sad that Ruthanne and her fun and adorable children are leaving in the morning. :sniff, sniff:

Why can't we be neighbors? Our kids play so well together. And we have fun, even when we're doing a bunch of nothin'.

Who's going to drink coffee with me tomorrow?

Or practice with the speedlight? Or help me figure out how to fold up that stupid reflector (or is it called deflector?)

I hope you come back again REALLY soon.

Like waaaaay before the next Bourne movie comes out.

Be sure to bring our blonde buddy with the no-lid-Carmex addiction with you.

Yo, over and out.

who says blog friends aren't real?

My friend Ruthanne brought her crew to visit today. Right now, all the kidlets are tucked in bed and (hopefully) tuckered out.

Now we're chillaxin.

If Melissa were here too, we'd have the thermostat kicked up to 80 just for her. Because blog friends are nice like that.

(Not to mention the fact that if you really tick one off, they can write all sorts of bad stuff about you. Not that any of us would do that of course!)

Have you met up with any bloggy friends lately?

It's about kindred spirits, y'all. I highly recommend it.

Sweet Shot: the flowerpot

It's hard to believe that little pot and single part of a six pack of flowers could last this long.

It has been sitting on my windowsill for over 2 YEARS.

Christian gave it to me on our last Mother's Day together.

A big thank you to their teachers for doing this little project in Sunday School. Only God knew how much of a treasure it would be to me!

Kind of like a lot of things in life. You don't really know the lasting impact or how much that little thing you did way back when would matter over time.

Linking up my Sweet Shot at Darcy's today.

i have no creative ideas-- help!

I need some help from all of you creative people out there-- and even those that aren't so creative.

One of our family traditions is to celebrate birthdays and special occasions at Chuck E. Cheese. I love how all the rides and games are only one token, how I can always get coupons from the Sunday paper, and how arriving at 9am guarantees a peaceful and empty establishment for at least an hour or two.

I realize that I also love the little sketch machine that they have.

Maybe we love it a little too much?

My dilemma is this: What to do with all of these pictures?

I am thankful that all the pics have the date written in the corner and are printed on regular paper (rather than the paper that is heat sensitive). Just the ones pictured total 20. I am pretty sure I have some more stashed around here somewhere. I would like to do more than just throw them in an album.

Any suggestions on how to display these without looking tacky or taking up an entire wall?

Does your family have a special celebration place or tradition?

(PS Please please link your email addy to your blogger account so I can reply directly to your comment via email. I love having a conversation with my friends!)

i have nothing to say

It seems I've hit a writing slump. I have things that I want to say or write about, but often they are random, disjointed and not worth mentioning when I finally get around to being on the computer at midnight.

So here I am just writing this down when I have no clue what else I'm going to say. You know it's bad when I don't even post a picture for Sweet Shot Tuesday!

I signed my boys up for Classical Conversations this week. They will be taking the Essentials class. Any of y'all doing CC this year?

We celebrated Noah's 9th birthday today. I was too busy having fun to take pictures or write out my thoughts on the day he was born. In honor of his birthday, I had a piece of Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake-- mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate cake. I sacrificed my low-carb diet for my son. It's a mother's love, y'all.

Tomorrow is my sister Coco's birthday. I have a few pictures I want to post, but when I realize that she has worse pictures of me, I dare not take the first step in a picture war that I am bound to lose. No one else would think the pictures are particularly bad or ugly, but we would. Why are we always our own worst critics? And when we goof around, why do we worry about other people thinking we're stupid?

Okay, that's it from me.

What's going on with y'all? Anything interesting or, better yet, WEIRD?

(I can't believe I'm going to publish this without a picture. Makes me wonder if I'm getting sick.)

my boys are back in town

The boys are back in town! I sure did miss them while they were at Southland Christian Camp all week.

(Ack. Now I have this song stuck in my head. I'm sorry for forcing the thought of it on you.)

(Noah's "ugly face")

I was a bit apprehensive when they left on Monday to drive to Louisiana. The thought of all those news stories of this youth group or that sports team getting into an accident on their way to some camp or tournament started creeping into my head. Since I am determined to not live in fear, I did the only thing I could do-- pray!

With phone calls not being allowed at camp, I figured no news was good news. Wednesday night I found out that they had a blowout on the way to camp. Praise the Lord that my friend was able to keep the van on the road, get off the highway and even limp along to a service station!

I will admit that when I first heard those words, a panic started rising up in my chest and I began to cry. Yup, I pretty much freaked out inside. We already know that nobody that is ever born is immune to death. And we know that tragedy can strike any family-- and even more than once. We're all in the process of dying right now.

We do not have to be fearful, we just have to be ready.

Because it doesn't stop there, y'know.

Death is not dying, it is just the beginning.

It is very good to have Austin and Noah back home. At their age, it is rather easy-going at our house on a regular basis. Read: Date night (or week) is not a big deal or as necessary as it was when they were tots. David and I really missed them.

We couldn't help but think what this week would've been like with just Christian around. He would've been soaking up all the one-on-one attention! And we would've thoroughly enjoyed lavishing it on him.

I can't wait for our whole family to be reunited again one day.

Then it will really be home sweet HOME!

Will your home be sweet one day? It is only through the saving grace of Jesus Christ that we can be assured of our home in Heaven. Make sure you know where your home will be. And be sure to share the roadmap with those you love (and even those that aren't your favorites).

On the Grill: Teriyaki Chicken

This is a new favorite grilling recipe for me. I love anything that you can marinate* and throw on the grill. It just makes cooking easier when you have almost zero prep during the dinner rush hour. Just cook some rice and throw the chicken on the grill. Easy-peasy!

TERIYAKI CHICKEN (aka chicken teriyaki, terribly clever, huh?)

3-4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 c. soy sauce
2 1/2 c. water
1 c. brown sugar
1 T. chopped garlic
2 T. worchesteshire sauce
1/2 c. pineapple juice (or 8oz can whatever pineapple w/juice you have on hand)

1. Whisk marinade ingredients, making sure brown sugar is fully dissolved.
2. Add chicken to marinade.
3. Marinate* at least overnight. I prefer 24 hours for more infused flavor.
4. Set grill to medium heat and cook until internal temperature reaches 165F. (Okay, I just cook it until it looks done with no pink inside. Does it sound more pro to have the temp warning?)

*Marinade is a noun. Marinate is a verb. I never gave it much thought until I was writing this recipe down. You can read more about the distinction here if you are so inclined. (You can still learn in the summer! I know, I'm such a dork.)

I'm linking this up with Robyn at Our Homeschool Home.