Tuesday's Tip!

This is a fun time of year where you may be going to Gasparilla to see the fireworks, or a trip to Disney may be on your bucket list for early 2011. If so, this Tuesday's Tip will help YOU! Whenever we are going to be somewhere fun at night with the children, I go to the Dollar Store and buy the neon glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces. They even have glow in the dark princess wands and guns! If you're at the circus, the fair, a parade or Disney, people will be selling fun glow-in-the-dark toys that will break tomorrow. Your little one will BEG for one! If your bag is filled with fun neon necklaces, then you can just whip them out and your child will be thrilled, while your wallet stays full!
Happy Tuesday's Tip!

Treasure Chest Cake

Happy Gasparilla, Friends!

We are SO excited to attend the parade today with our friends and family! Gasparilla is such a fun time for our fair city. Admittedly, jolly rogers are not my favorite accessory, but they sure are cute during Gasparilla! Our house is decorated with wreaths and beads and beautiful hand-decorated jolly roger ornaments and hand towels. It's fun to be festive. Today we'll don our pirate apparel and leave super early for the parade and its surrounding entertainment. We can't wait!

To get into the spirit, we made a fun pirate treasure chest cake last night. We began this tradition last year when we made our first treasure chest cake. I have learned that I am not necessarily a neat cook, so I'm sure you can make your cake look even better than ours. The fun part of this cake is filling it with candy treasures. I had fun going to the Dollar Tree to buy candy necklaces, ring pops, gold candies, gummy worms, gummy coke bottles, wax bottles, et cetera to go inside our treasure chest.

I found this fun recipe on familyfun.go.com!!!
Ingredients
1 baked 13- x 9- x 2-inch cake
6 cups chocolate frosting - One container of store bought frosting will work
Edible treasures, such as chocolate coins, Rolo candies, chocolate almond kisses or Necco Wafers
Red Fruit by the Foot
Mini jawbreakers
Candy jewels, such as candy necklaces and rock candy and ring pops!


Cut a section approximately 2-inches wide in the center of the cake. The two remaining 5 1/2- x 9- x 2-inch rectangular pieces will form the bottom and top of the chest.

Slice the 2-inch section on an angle to form two long triangular wedges. Place the wedges on the bottom half of the chest, about an inch apart. Both wedges should face the same direction (tall end toward the front of the cake) as they will support the top of the treasure chest and keep it propped open.

Then frost the bottom half of cake, including the wedges.

To add further support for the top of the chest, stand a few large gold coins under the lid.

With the "hinged" end (left side of photo) at the back, place the top of the chest on the bottom and frost.

Wrap the fruit leather straps around the chest and press mini jawbreaker "nails" into the frosting alongside the straps. Fill the chest and the surrounding area with edible treasures and jewels.

Our Bug and Buddy

When our Bug was born, we thought she was the most wonderful baby in the whole world. Of course we thought that same thing 2 years earlier when the three most wonderful babies ever were born. DH and I were enamored with Bug from the start. Compared to three babies, the Bug was easy. She was a happy baby. She was just so happy that DH and I always said, "Our Bug is just happy to be here." You see, it was a miracle that I could have a baby without a lot of poking, prodding, et cetera in a sterile operating room. The Bug was the miracle we had prayed for, hoped for, and had been told would never happen. She was given to us without medical intervention.

The Bug was born in the year 2003 when many of our friends were also having new babies. It was a fun time to be a mama to a little baby. Her playgroup had over lots of babies in it, and most of them were second born babies. From birth, she was drawn to a baby boy we'll call Buddy. You know his Mama and I didn't have a thing to do with their friendship. We didn't arrange it one little bit. No. Never. NEV-AH.


Well, Bug and Buddy became closer friends than his mama and I ever imagined. They were friends and co-conspirators. They played together, laughed together, ate together, and cut hair together the day before preschool pictures. Our Bug is not lacking in personality, and neither is her Buddy. They are quite a PAIR. They just seem to enjoy each other, not in a romantic way at all. In fact, we've never pushed that with these two because what 3 or 4 year old needs to worry about marriage? What we have encouraged is their sweet friendship. It really is sweet. Special. Unique. I mean, she never worried about wearing her bathing suit in front of him with that cute little belly of hers!

These two have enjoyed playdates and birthday parties together. They never tire of one another's company.


Buddy's not even afraid to wear a little gloss for the Bug. Well, 4 years ago he wasn't afraid. He probably wouldn't do it now that he's a big boy.


One of the most difficult parts of our move was that Bug had to leave behind her 4 best friends, including Buddy. It was heart wrenching. She just loves her friends. Bug and Buddy spent some nice afternoons at Pullen Park before we had to move.


Don't you just love how much fun they have together?


At Christmas, we stopped by Buddy's house to see him and his precious family. They are dear friends and we have missed them! None of us could understand why Buddy wouldn't come out and say hello to the Bug. She finally went upstairs with all of the children and they played and talked a little. Suddenly she was shoving money in my hands and telling me she didn't know what to do but that Buddy had given her the money.

"Oh, sweetie, we can't keep Buddy's money. That is so sweet but this is $6!!! That is a lot of money. I am going to give it back to his parents." She nodded and said, "I know. He doesn't need to give me anything."

I gave his Daddy the money. Buddy was still not acting like himself so his daddy went to check on him. Buddy's daddy came back and said, "I now know why Buddy was hiding. He was so upset because he did not have a Christmas gift for Bug. He told me that he couldn't not give her a gift but that he had not had time to shop for her. He wanted to give her something so he gave her his money. He gave her ALL of his money. So, if you've ever doubted his intentions for your daughter, you should know that he gave her every last dime he had!"
We all sighed a collective "Awww!!", and I wiped away some tears. Is that not the sweetest thing ever? Buddy gave our Bug everything he had. May it be so in all of our relationships. May we ALL give all that we have.

Tuesday's Tip... Gasparilla Pirate's Rum Punch!

Aaargh... Maties!
It's that time again! Tampa will be invaded by pirates this Saturday, January 22, 2011 for the Children's Parade! Are you mateys ready? Just in time is a Gasparilla Pirate's Punch Recipe! Those who don't want the bang can enjoy Hawaiian Tropic's red punch with sprite!

Gasparilla Pirate's Rum Punch

1 part rum (Bacardi rum works just fine)
1 part cranberry juice (50 ounce bottle)
2 parts orange juice... the best kind is Tropicana with pulp
Mix all of the ingredients together and serve! I also like to add some Coco Lopez to it or use a little coconut rum to make it taste very island-y!

Cheers!!!

New Favorite in the Kitchen

I love to cook. There are certainly days and even seasons where I do less of it, but on a good week we eat all of our meals at home. Hospitality is a gift DH and I share. We love to have others to our home, and try to do so as often as possible. Some of our favorite evenings are spent at home with a good meal and a game or deck of cards to entertain everyone following the meal. Great memories are often forged around the dinner table!

One of my new favorite ingredients is PANCETTA. Pancetta is an Italian bacon that has been cured with salt and pepper. It is much saltier than bacon. It is delicious! You buy pancetta in the deli section at the grocery store. Ask for a size 2 slice. At Thanksgiving, my dear friend, Rachel, who is an incredible cook, made the best appetizer! It was pancetta with arugula, goat cheese, and figs. I believe the recipe below is similar:

Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Figs
Makes 12

12 thin Pancetta slices

12 Arugula leaves

12 tsp. soft, fresh Goat Cheese

Fig jam or preserves

6 fresh Figs (You can substitute 6 plump dried Mission figs or 12 small fresh persimmon wedges)

You can add chopped thyme on top if you so desire

Fresh ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pancetta in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool 15 minutes and transfer to platter. I have also cooked pancetta in the pan like you cook bacon and that also works well. I love the little rounds it makes!

2. Top each slice with 1 arugula leaf, 1 teaspoon of goat cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of jam.

3. Depending on the size of your figs, top with 1/2 a fig. (The figs I purchased were large, so I used 1/6 of a fig per appetizer). Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. You may want to add the thyme as well.

Bon appetit!

Two Terrific Years in Tampa

Has it really been two years? Was it 2 Christmases ago that we decorated our tree with our Christmas cards because we didn't have time to pull out all of our ornaments when we would be packing right after Christmas?


Has it been two years since dear friends gave us a going away party that we'll never forget?

Have we owned a painting by artist Shade Maret for two years? Sometimes it's hard to believe, and other times it feels like Tampa has been home for so much longer than just 2 years. Can I really not have a Raleigh Times salad whenever I want it?


Was it really two years ago that all of our worldly belongings were packed in boxes and moved to our driveway to be loaded onto a large truck for their transit to Tampa? Did we really stand in our driveway and hug our sweet neighbors and friends goodbye? To this day we have not had better neighbors than our old ones!




How did we ever have our last meal as Raleigh residents with the whole extended family? Did we eat or just cry in our pizza? How on earth did we load up all 7 of us, a dog, a computer, our sterling silver, all of our home movies, our wedding album, and special pictures of the children, fit all of it in one amazing Honda Odyssey minivan, and drive out of my parents' driveway? I'm not sure how we did it. But I do know that God was with us through every mile that we drove and every time that we stopped. Again. I'll never forget getting out of the car to take pictures at the first Florida rest stop. The temperature had completely warmed up and we began to strip layers of clothing. It was sunny and beautiful and WARM!



How were we brave enough to drive those 12 hours and then move into a local hotel for the week? How did we wake up on time to meet our new church family? God gave us the strength. Our first morning was filled with funny happenings, but look at how quickly our children made lifelong friends!!!! Can you believe that their best friends are in this first picture that we took after church? Despite the fact that we had a child vomit in the parking lot, I called someone a whore when I misunderstood their last name, and we smelled like dog doo, we still managed to make some friends! God does have a sense of humor!

How did our sweet 7 year old triplets bravely enter a new classroom where they doubled its size and knew no one? God gave them strength. He prepared them in ways we could not. They fit right in like they had always been at the school. God makes children so much more resilient than adults!



How did our little tiny 5 year old, Bug, face a whole new preschool all by herself? I don't now how she did it! She had never seen the school, we did not know her teacher, we did not know even one person at her school. But she did it. God gave her the strength and the personality to cope. She went right in and started making friends, just as our Bug always does. She left her very best friends in NC, and she did not immediately make new best friends. However, over the next year, she made wonderful friends and now has best friends here. We are so grateful.

Did our 5 monkeys really swim in January? Now that we are thin-blooded Floridians, I don't think they could do it! However, we happily obliged them when we arrived in the Sunshine State. We still love our pool. We are so grateful for this home. Most of all, we are grateful for the many countless ways the Lord has blessed us here. We never desired to leave our home in North Carolina. We were quite content. Sometimes the Lord has different plans for us. We knew we had to follow Him, and we're so glad that we did. Happy Two Years in Tampa!!!!!!

Tuesday's Tip!

You know, you always need to listen to Mama. And MY Mama says that sponges are huge breeders of germs. She noted that a recent study found that sponges often have MORE germs than the toilet seat they are trying to clean. Can we say a collective, "EWWWWWW!!!!". Yuckers. Anyhoo, Mama has the perfect solution to kill those germs. Wet your sponge and ring it out so that it is damp. You do not want it to be dripping wet. Place the damp sponge in your microwave and put it on high for 2 minutes. This kills all of the germs on your sponge. You should do this DAILY. Once you open your microwave, you will find that any dirt in the microwave has been loosened because the damp sponge becomes a sauna of sorts for your microwave. The loosened food spots are now easier to clean and you have a damp sponge in hand that is is disinfected and ready to do more dirty work! Isn't Mama smart?!
Happy 1/11/11!!!!!!!