Top Chef---Breakfast Edition

R, BabyBear, and SW had a sleepover Friday night.

So when they woke up this morning, they said, "CAN WE BE IN CHARGE OF BREAKFAST?"

Ahhhhhhhhhh.....................music to my ears......kids in charge of their own breakfasts.

Maybe one day they will say,
"Can we pllleeeeeeeeeeezzzzze do some laundry?"
OR
"Can we plllllleeeeeeezzzze be in charge of scooping the cat box?"
OR
"Can we plllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeezzeeee clean up the gigantic fort that we made upstairs using 900 blankets and all the couch cushions?"

But for now, I'm happy with the breakfast making........baby steps.

That's why I love these three so much-----they are all RAH RAH Football playing sweaty 6th Grade boys, but they ain't afraid of donning a nice girly apron on a Saturday morning for a little culinary development.


Their future wives are gonna LOVE LOVE LOVE them for knowing how to get around a kitchen.

The Saturday Morning Pancake EGGstravaganza started off pretty normal....."Okay, I'll mix the batter, you get the spatula...."


"Yeah, then we will put the chocolate chips on top of the batter.........."

Just your average, typical pancake breakfast.

normal, round, boringly spherical pancakes............right?

But then that little "Culinary Sparkle" started twinkling in all their eyes and they decided to get creative..............................

BabyBear payed homage to one of his favorite places to visit by making a Mickey pancake.

M-I-C...................K-E-Y..............M-O-U-S-E.

Then R said "I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA!!!!


So he decided to pay homage to NIKE...........

with a chocolate sprinkled NIKE Swoosh.............
(because nothing says NIKE ATHLETICS like syrup and chocolate)

And finally, it was time for SW to whip out his culinary wizardry.........(and he even managed his masterpiece with a fractured hand from a fall during tennis last week!)

It was a two-part-pancake honoring this small secular college just north of the great state of TEXAS...............can't seem to remember the name of it................

Oh, yeah.......OU!
And when I started doing the typical Aggie thing of talking smack about other colleges.........


He reminded me of something by removing the apron with a t-shirt reveal......so I shut up.

Peace Out Mon...................................

Easter ROCKS! (Rock Opera)

Are you sitting down? You aren't going to BELIEVE I did this:

I actually missed watching an American Idol results show on Wednesday JUST to spend time with this bunch!

......and it was sooooooooooo worth it!
(Sorry Simon!)

THIS fabulous group of people* from our World FAMOUS CUMC Youth group went to see a "Rock Opera" at Klein UMC Wednesday night!

*(I TRIED to get everyone that went in the picture, but gathering teenagers for a photo op is like nailing Jello to a Tree, so I captured as many as I could before something shiny caught their eyes and they scattered.)

You might be asking just what in the world is a Rock Opera?

Basically, it was a musical based on the events of Holy Week (Palm Sunday, The Last Supper, Good Friday, Easter Sunday) but instead of using "churchy" songs to tell the story, it used songs that you could hear on the radio TODAY. Kinda like taking an old story and jazzing it up with new music.

(Anyone remember the Leonardo DiCaprio/Claire Danes move from the '90's where they took the story of "Romeo and Juliet" and stuck it in modern times?.....THAT's what it was like)

PAUSE: Random Andrea moment I must tell:
(All day long I kept singing "Rock Lobster" by the B52's like this....."Rock Ah--HAAAAAA-----Ahh---Pra, Rock Ah--HAAAAA-- Ahhhh-Pra".....if you don't know that song, be thankful because if you DO know it, I'll bet money that you are going to have it stuck in your head in three......two.......one.........)

UNPAUSE: Resume story here:
Back to our "Rock Opera".............

Here's just a sampling of some of the songs they used to portray the Easter story:

"Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2 was sung by a character to illustrate her search for Christ. (you broke the bonds/loosened the chains/carried the cross/of my shame/of my shame/and you know I believe it)

"In The Name Of Love" by U2----parallels just what Easter is all about---God sending his Son to us "in the name of love". (one man come in the name of love/one man come and go........one man betrayed by a kiss)

And here is what I thought was the BEST one-----
"In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins was sung by the character playing Jesus ("Jesse Christianson") on the night of the last supper when Jesus knows what is about to happen. It was so eerie how the lyrics and the spooky sound/vibe of that song fit perfectly with what was happening after the Last Supper. Seeing the character playing Jesus standing up there singing (I can feel it/coming in the air tonight/and I've been waiting for this moment/all my life/oh, lord) was very moving.

"Hero"by Nickelback was kinda the 'overall' song that was sung several times---"a hero can save us". Forgive me if I can't do more lyrics from that one....it's just that I have an unhealthy dislike for Nickelback and while it was a GREAT fit for the content of the play......I just can't separate the "I can't stand Nickelback-Andrea" from the "Get Over It and Enjoy the words of the song-Andrea".

Moving on................

"Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence. It was creepy how perfectly that song from today's music fit in with the Easter story. (google the lyrics and you will be amazed----here's just a sampling: wake me up inside/wake me up inside/call my name and save me from the dark/bid my blood to run/before I come undone/save me from the nothing I've become)

"Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" by Bill Withers (also just performed on American Idol a few weeks ago by that Kris guy with the cute little wife)
ain't no sunshine when he's gone/it's not warm when he's away
This is what the homeless people in the play (disciples) sang when they were told Jesse Christianson (Jesus) had died.

There were many other songs that just fit so perfectly! I wish I could have remembered them all! Maybe someone who reads this will remember one and put it in the comments....hint, Goldilocks and PappaBear, hint hint.

Bottom Line: It was just COOL!


I just love taking the youth group places.

They are all such a great group of kids. (I especially love that stinker in the yellow shirt......with the overly expensive hardware in his mouth:-)


......and THIS little stinker in the white hat......with more overly expensive hardware that you just can't see because his mouth is closed. HA


Our Youth Director and KK.


See our Sr. High sweetly tolerating and carefully avoiding the antics of the Jr. High behind them? (Good job, guys....just remember, you were once just as "energetic")

We had fun! Hope everyone has a great Easter!



P.S. Thank you Klein UMC for having us! Yall did a GRRRREAT job!

Chick Fil A "Can I Just Say?" (Chapter 2 of 2)

If you haven't read Chapter 1 of this saga, (listed in the blog post just below this one) just know this:
I do love Chick-Fil-A. (or as we lovingly refer to it in our house..."Chick-A-Vay") I think they are a great business and we frequent them often......maybe a little too often.

HOWEVER!................................

Going thru the drive-thru of Chick-Fil-A lately has become an exercise in Lightning Speed Multitasking.

Bottom line is that it STRESSES ME OUT.

This has been bugging me for quite some time so before I started to blog about it, I thought I would google some key words just to see if maybe I was the only crazy person on the planet that actually put thought into fast food drive thru procedures.

When I googled something along the lines of "Chick-Fil-A too fast drive thru" I came across this clever blog entry by 3girlsmom! She made me feel like I wasn't the only one that felt a little rushed during the whole drive thru ordeal! I read her post, patted myself on the back with validation, asked her if I could link her (she said yes!) and began my post to be read and enjoyed by my five or six multitude of readers!

"Here's the Thing": (As Kara Dioguardi would say)

Once you place that order at the microphone, you have unknowingly activated the "Psycho Speed Ordering System" inside that building. It must start the moment your order is complete and the sweet voice says, "Heather will be happy to help you at the window."

That phrase starts the whole machine in motion: "Heather will be happy to help you at the window".

Do NOT be fooled by the kind voice. IT'S A TRAP, PEOPLE!

What that sweet voice REALLY means is this:

"Heather will all be happy to help you at the window to see how fast our skillfully trained team of MANY can toss, launch, hurl, and throw your order into your car so rapidly you won't know what hit you. "

The drive-thru lane has become so consumed with how "many" people it can get through the line, how "many" people they can have working back there and at what speed they can complete the ordering process, it makes the whole event a blood pumping, heart-rate-accelerating-adventure similar to the scariest roller coaster ride at a Disney theme park.

You gotta have your "A-Game" READY once you make the decision to pull up in that line, people.

There's no mamby pamby messin' around with THIS drive thru line.

It AIN'T your grandma's drive thru..............it's a lesson in chaotic efficiency.

When I approach the drive thru "queue" (I love pretending I'm British) I feel like one of those boxers in the corner of the ring when they are jumping up and down saying, "I'm ready, okay, I'm goin' in".....

and they bang their gloves together and take their thumb and rub their nose...........are you getting the visual?

In preparation for placing my order, I have developed a military-like checklist in my head all the while I'm inching up to the holy uproar that awaits me.

I know that 87 arms are lurking behind that tiny window ready to chunk my order at me, get their "My Pleasure's" out, and move on to the next victim behind me in line.

Here's a little hint to have a more successful experience: You MUST have people in the car to lend a hand.........this is not something that can really be done alone.

You are going to need to assemble and train your OWN team in the car to tackle this adventure.....if you are by yourself, ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION, and head over to McDonalds........trust me, it's not worth it. You can't handle an operation like this alone. You NEED extra hands.

Remember, it's not just you against ONE.....it's you against a drive-thru TEAM.

Four, Five, sometimes even SIX people all working like a well oiled machine at that window! They have sacks to dispense, drinks to maneuver, money to take..............

And they are on some sort of Crazy Speed Clock from Hell........

And They. Mean. Business.


Here's a taste of a typical drive thru scene:
Andrea, G, and R 25 feet from the window.
Andrea says, "ALL HANDS ON DECK, WAKE UP PEOPLE, WE ARE GETTING CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!"

22 feet from the window.

Debit card out?................check.

20 feet to the window

Are the cup holders empty and ready?.............check.
(God forBID you have to make them wait to move something around to clear out a cup holder.........this could cause pandemonium)

15 feet to the window......heart rate increasing.

Is the passenger in your car ready, willing, and able to take things to hold while you frantically juggle the next object from the assembly line of hands pawing at you, reaching for you, all screaming "my pleasure" "my pleasure" "my pleasure".
G WAKE UP! PUT THE IPOD AWAY! I NEED YOU! YOU CAN'T JUST SIT THERE! WE'RE ABOUT TO BE AT THE WINDOW! ...............okay, check.

10 feet from the window.....palms sweaty

Do you know what sauce you need and the correct quantity?
I SAID, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT SAUCE YOU NEED AND THE QUANTITY"?

5 feet from the window

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT SAUCES THERE ARE? THERE IS NO TIME FOR THAT! LET'S GO! GO! GO!

2 feet from the window.........ummmmm....ummmmmmm......

"NEVERMIND...YOU'LL GET POLYNESIAN AND YOU'LL LIKE IT!"

Arrive at window.

(At this point, it's really just a blurry lively mess of hand to hand exchanges, flying red and white bags, friendly faces, countless "My Pleasure"'s! that really sound more like this: MY PLEASURE NOW GET MOVING!)

And.....................then, like a flash of lightning, a bad dream, or a spanking..... it's over.

Take a deep breath. "Is everyone okay?"

You pull forward, park, and in a bewildered traumatized trance look around to do a quick damage assessment.

You try to find your debit card or change that was tossed by "Team member #1-Currency Propeller" somewhere during the battle.

You clean up the spilled drinks that didn't quite make it to the cup holder before the next one was propelled into your vehicle by "Team member#2--Liquids Liason".

You pause to divvy up the waffle fries that have all abandoned their sweet red holders and are now nothing but a tangled jumbled heap of starchy goo in the bottom of the sack. All courtesy of "Team member#3--Sack Slinger".

You look in the back seat to see who is crying/pissed off/upset that you didn't have time to ask "Team member#4---Sauce Boss" for Honey Mustard and only managed to make it out with a couple Polynesians. "I had to get out, honey,....there just wasn't time.....THE SAUCE BOSS WAS LOOKING AT ME FUNNY............I HAD TO EVACUATE!"

(Thank goodness nobody wanted a shake, or that would have involved the services of yet another set of hands........"Team Member#5--IcyTreat Launcher")

You gather up your thoughts and head out of the parking lot glancing back in your rearview mirror at all the other soldiers left in the lane.

You say a little prayer for those left behind that they will have the organization, strength, and wisdom to make it out alive and unscathed.

All in the name of Chicken...............really awesome, great, yummy, honeyish, chicken.

Chick-Fil-A "In The Beginning" (Chapter 1 of 2)

Here's the deal: I'm upset with the way Chick-Fil-A does their drive-thru.

So I decided to rant blog about it but along the way, the rant story really became two stories in one.

So this is going to be a TWO POST STORY! (Aren't you excited.....and to think, I'm not even charging you for this stuff!)

I am feeling very "literary" today so I will refer to the two parts as Chapter One and Chapter Two. Really original, huh?

Chapter One will be called "In The Beginning" and serves kinda as the "background" of our family's relationship with Chick-Fil-A.

Chapter Two will be called "Can I Just Say?" which is how I start most of my rants off when I call my sister or Goldilocks.

So welcome to Chapter One. Enjoy.
(If you want to fast forward to the juicy part, feel free to skip this chapter go ahead to Chapter Two.)

When I moved to this area of Houston, I was big fat preggo with my first son. Just about the same time we moved here, the Chick-Fil-A Gods decided to construct a free standing unit very close to my new digs.

Now, I had never been a huge fan of Chick-Fil-A, mainly because of my crazy psycho food issues about cooked food once being dead raw food coupled with growing up with a mother who exhibited not so positive attitudes toward "old dead chickens". So, since I wasn't a big chicken eater, the new addition of this fast food chain wasn't that big of a deal to me...............OR SO I THOUGHT AT THE TIME.

While the mega bosses at the Chick-Fil-A Industry were "building a building", I was "building" their biggest client/fan/life long customer in my big fat preggo belly..........G.

Oh sure, as a new mommy I never DREAMED of EVER purchasing fast food for my baby boy!
I honestly thought that "kid's meals" were for lazy parents and trailer trash. MY child was NEVER going to eat anything out of a sack that came from a drive thru. Not MY kid.

I was going to provide the healthiest of choices for him, cook homemade baby food, breastfeed until he was two, limit all sugar intake, etc......you know, all the things that the books tell you that "good mommies" do.

But then I BECAME a mommy and all that book crap went out the window.
(the car window that is......on my way through a drive thru.....HA!)

G was not a big fan of food when he was little. That child could go for days without eating. Thankfully he would get on "kicks" where he would pick one food to obsess over and eat only that food for the entire day.

Okay, maybe two or three days.
Yeah, okay, maybe a week.
OKAY FINE, I'LL SAY IT.............. a month.

He once went 11 days eating only McDonalds french fries. Let's just say that in a mommy's desperate hours she can convince herself that potatoes and ketchup are healthy vegetables.

One night after unsuccessfully offering everything in my pantry to this kid and him just looking at me like, "You have GOT to be kidding me", I drove to the drive-thru window at Chick-Fil-A and purchased my very first "Kid's Meal".

I brought it home, cut the chicken up in little pieces and BAM.........
(Insert large choir singing "Hallelujah" here).........a love affair was born.

G had discovered his first "True Love"..................."Chick-A-Vay an' a Pepper".

(the "an' a pepper meant "and a Dr. Pepper") Yes, okay, calm down, I DID give my toddler Dr. Pepper. At least I gave it to him in a styrofoam cup with a straw and not in a bottle that reeked of second hand smoke with Looney Toon character decals on the side....so cut me some slack.

"Chick-A-Vay an' a pepper" and G became fast friends.........and 15 years later, the friendship is still going strong. Granted, the little 4 piece Kid's Meal has turned into the 12 pack Value Sized Combo..........but the basics are still there.

Nuggets, Waffle Fries and Polynesian. G's three basic food groups.

I've always pictured the groom's cake at G's wedding to be towering party tray of nuggets with Polynesian icing.

And G's first dance with his bride will be this:


So----moral of the story is, "We Love Chick-Fil-A", will always love Chick-Fil-A, and frequent Chick-fil-A probably a little too often.

I think that's why I take this new drive-thru problem to heart so much-----I feel like a member of my family is messing up and I have this need to let them know.

So.............on to Chapter Two.

Sunday El-Oh-Vee-Eee

I just feel in love. Deep, Deep, Meaningful love.
I. Love. This. Backspash.
What do you think?

BlahBlahBlogggg

***Just in case you can't read the small print***
It says, "Never Before Have So Many People With So Little To Say Said So Much To So Few."

Happy Anniversary, Andrea!

Today is a very special day for me. One year ago TODAY, I decided to take the plunge and change the way I viewed food. I woke up that morning armed with my trusty South Beach Diet book, having spent the last week "learning" about foods; what they do, how they work, purposes they serve.

I had also spent the last week doing what every red blooded American woman does right before embarking on a diet..............

go out and gorge myself on any and everything I could get my hands on knowing I was about to essentially "give up all things good and holy". I equated it to a combination of "going to prison" and Jesus' last big dinner party with his BFF's..........gotta have those "last suppers" before they lock you up and throw away the key)

In my mind I did that thing we all do, "Okay, Andrea......THIS TIME, I'm going to stick with it...today is DAY ONE".

This was probably my 50th "Day One of a Diet".

"Day One"'s are always the easiest, it's the Day Two's, etc. that are always the kinks in my grand plans.

I am a professional "Day One"-er.

(Day One of Andrea's New Laundry System, Day One of Andrea's Keep Her Car Clean System, Day One of Andrea's Clean Cat Box System, Day One of Andrea's Clean House System.............you get the picture.)

I'm GREAT at "making" the plan............the "execution"???.....not so much.

Two things were different about this "Day One".

This time I was about to turn 40 and had just seen a picture of myself at Easter that was one of those "Is that ME?" kind of pictures.

Doesn't everyone have one of those pictures?
(No, I would never post that picture...I would rather be dipped in honey and rolled in ants than have to show anyone that picture)

But the BIG thing.....the "Ah-HA" moment


(Get it.....an Ah-HA moment? God, I miss the 80's)

...........was that I had recently overheard Garrett and a friend of his talking upstairs about some kid "with the fat mom".

That phrase really got to me.

Really. Got. To. Me.

At that moment something clicked. I never wanted my boys to be labeled with that description.

I never wanted Garrett or Ryan to have their mother described as "the fat mom"........"funny mom", "crazy mom", "terribly unorganized mom", "her-roots-are-showing- mom", ...those were okay.........but not "the fat mom".

So I guess that basically boils down to how it all started:

A 40th birthday,

an Easter picture, and three little words mumbled upstairs by two teenagers.

I think everyone has to have their "Ahhh-HA" moment.

(Here it is AGAIN......that was THE best video, can I get an "Amen"?)

Those moments are what give you the ability, strength, and stamina to turn a "Day One" into a "Day Two", and then a "Day Three"....and even a "Day 365"! I know it doesn't stop here. Today I can celebrate, be happy, try on some old clothes and relish in the fact they are too big, but tomorrow morning will be "Day 366" and it deserves as much pomp and circumstance as "Day One" did..........because there's still work to be done!!!!!


Today I welcome yet another "DAY ONE"...................

it's "Day One of Andrea's Make Her Bed Every Day" System....wish me luck.

Dreaming Big

Over Spring Break, we decided to go out and play the course where the Shell Houston Open will be held in a few weeks. It was BEE--YOU---TEE--FULL!!!!! They had that course in such gorgeous shape..........I want to think it was all for US, but I think it had something to do with the fact that it is going to be on TV in a couple weeks. (But I'm sure our visit had "something" to do with it.....ha!)

Here are some pics of our wonderful family day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It will be kinda cool to watch it on TV and actually "know" the holes that they are playing! I don't think everyone shot what they had "hoped" to shoot, but it was great just to get out there and play.

As an overly proud mommy, I must admit, when I would look out and see my sweet boys surrounded by all these grand stands, I would get this little glimmer in my eye and think, "Someday....they will fill up these stands with everyone wanting to see R and G play!"

(And the oober famous R and G will win lots of $$$$ and buy their mother lots of very expensive things with all that green!)

Five Dog Weekend

My sister came down this weekend and brought my niece-dog, Lily, and my nephew-dog, Otis.



From left: Otis, Lily, PeeWee, Maggie, Ruthie:-)



Having five precious puppies in the house all weekend made me want more.



"May I have a bite, please?"


All our plates were squeaky clean by the time they made it to the dishwasher.

"FORE" the boys..............

So we have been playing LOTS of golf around here, both in tournaments and as a family on the weekends! G plays in roughly one tournament per week and here he is last week at the Longwood course.


I decided to attend the tournament and follow quietly behind. I hope I didn't make him nervous. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this shot............he was BEHIND a tree in the fairway and had to use his putter to get out! (not his favorite hole on the course to say the least)


We have started going out as a family on the weekends and play a round. T surprised me with my very own set of clubs for Valentines day and I can't wait to take a few lessons and play with them. For now, I'm happy just being the second cart driver:-)








I'm hoping all teenagers look this thrilled to be taking a picture with their momma.


..............or their daddy. Teenagers are just a ray of sunshine, let me tell you.


Once we are away from the clubhouse, I always let R drive..........I never know where the balls are and it's just easier for him to drive to his own shots:-)


After spending a considerable amount of time sitting in golf carts over the past year, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe golfers aren't that smart based on the above picture? I would have never been able to master this thing had it not been for the clear signage.