The Rolling of the eyes...

And it starts. Yep at just 3 1/2 years old Cannon has started to ROLL HIS EYE's at me. I was asking him to help me pick up his toys and he looked right at me and did the 14 year old eye roll. Needless to say he had a bit of sitting time and then we talked about how it's disrespectful to do that and he said "Yes mommy like when I have bad behavior, right" I agreed and then let him go on his way... all the time thinking is that how my mom felt? Was my eye roll like that? WHY was I so rotten? I guess it's true what they say, your kids are Karma. Golly I love him.

A Rainbow of fruit flavors.... or just a rainbow of Fruit.

For St.Patty's day I took the snack into my kiddo's preschool class. I decided that since there are allergies in the class I would just make a fruit plate... with a twist. The ROYGBIV consisted of Strawberries, Oranges, Pineapple, Green Apples, Blackberries (I tried to get Blueberries but couldn't find them) and Purple Grapes. The Cloud is made of mini-marshmallows and the Pot Of Gold is Bananas with gold colored sugar sprinkled over them. I must say the kids LOVED this idea and had so much fun eating the different "colors" of the Rainbow.



We also had them make Leprachaun hats out of paper bowls. Here are some pictures of that as well.

Hot Dogs and Marshmallows

Ok so I know in Colorado March is a bit early to be camping but that is what we did. And yes... It did snow on us, Twice. We had so much fun though so that made up for it. We bought our camper in Late October last year and were itchin' to get out and camp. We decided we would go this past weekend and it didn't matter that the weather called for snow and rain all weekend. So off we went into the cold mountains of Western Colorado for a fun filled weekend of Fishing and Camping. We did Fish and we did Camp but we didn't catch anything but cold fingers and toes. We had so much fun though and it was just great to be out and about and away from civilization for a few days.

One of my favorite things about the weekend was something that Cannon said. As we were pulling into the fishing area at Crawford Resovior he got super excited and said "Look at the trees they are so pretty and they are Upside down" To which our response was "What?" Well after looking in his direction I notice the reflection in the water of the mountains and trees were "upside down" It's just amazing to me the way kids view the world.

All in all we had a really fun weekend and the cold wasn't even that bad. Can't wait for warmer weather camping though.

Yes it is snowing on us while fishing.

This cracks me up... his face says "Seriously People... It's Snowing, why are we out here?"

Our Pretty Campfire

Bug roasting some marshmallows

Karter got in on the roasting of the hotdogs.

Irish you a happy St. Pattys day

HAPPY ST.PATRICKS DAY FROM OUR LITTLE LEPRECHAUNS TO YOURS!!!!


Karter 2011

Cannon 2008

DOG!!

So Montrose was again on Dog the Bounty Hunter tonight and it is just so strange to see our town on TV. It actually kind of creeps me out to know that we have that many criminals in this small community. Still haven't seen my MHS Cheer kids yet.

Fat tuesday at the Brown house.

So Yesterday was Fat Tuesday and no I am not french Cajun or from Louisiana, and yes 15 years ago I wouldn't have know the first thing about it... But in College I had a GREAT friend who was French Cajun and is from LA and she introduced this great day to me. Since then I have loved Mardi Gras and this year I Made a great Gumbo and King Cake dinner for our family. Here is the recipe for the Gumbo and some pictures to go with it.

This may be a simple gumbo, but its a hearty one and a classic combination. If you can't find andouille, use a local smoked sausage or kielbasa or whatever smoked sausage you like. This one's easy to knock off quickly for a great evening's meal.


• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup flour
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 large chicken breasts, cut into pieces
• 1 pounds andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped
• 2/3 cup fresh chopped parsley

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning and brown quickly. Brown the sausage, pour off fat and reserve meats.


In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to high heat (depending on your roux-making skill), stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a dark reddish-brown color, almost the color of coffee or milk chocolate for a Cajun-style roux. If you want to save time, or prefer a more New Orleans-style roux, cook it to a medium, peanut-butter color, over lower heat if you're nervous about burning it.




Add the vegetables and stir quickly. This cooks the vegetables and also stops the roux from cooking further. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.


Add the stock, seasonings, chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.
Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes. Serve over rice in large shallow bowls. Accompany with a good beer and lots of hot, crispy French bread.




YIELD: About 12 entrée sized servings.




And then there is the King cake.... the story of the king cake is believed to have originated in France around the 12th Century. These early Europeans celebrated the coming of the 3 wise men bearing gifts 12 days after Christmas calling it the feast of the Epiphany, twelfth night or Kings' Day.

the main part of the celebration was the baking of a King Cake to honor the 3 kings. the cakes were made circular to portray the circular route used by the kings to get to the Christ Child and confuse King Herod, who was trying to follow the wise men so he could kill the baby Jesus. In these early King Cakes, a bean or pea or a coin was hidden inside the cake. The person who got the hidden item was said to be "king" for the day and was said to have good luck in the coming year.

I Louisiana, Twelfth Night also Signifies the beginning of the Carnival Season which ends on Mardi Gras Day. The beans, peas, and coins have been replaced by a small plastic baby to symbolize the baby Jesus. The person who get the baby is expected to carry on the Carnival festivities by hosting the next King Cake Party.

I always make my king cake this way.

1 can of Cinnamon Rolls with Icing
Food Coloring

Shape the Cinnamon rolls in a Circle on the baking sheet and bake as directed on the package. Take the icing and split it in Thirds. Color one with Green, One with Yello, and the other use Red and Blue to make Purple. Then Ice the cooked cake in 6 sections alternating colors. Tuck the baby in from the bottom DON'T COOK THE BABY IN THE CAKE!!!!!!

Then just sit back and enjoy watching people eat while they look for the baby... You can see who found it this year....

Thank you Krista for this

Here is why I am doing my FB hiatus in a nutshell... My Friend Krista always puts things so Eloquently.

"It's not so much about what you give up, but what God gave up for you, so lay down some distractions and follow Jesus on the journey for the next 40 days-Happy Lent, to all my fellow Jesus followers!"

Krista You are so amazing and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I love you with all my heart.

Blessed

So After having 2 kiddos now have to make trips to the ER for Breathing issues and fevers in the middle of the night, I have decided that we are truly blessed. Both of my boys at 6 months have had ER visits and both were discharged after only a few hours with fairly good Diagnosis. Last night was the 2 of our infant trips to the ER because Bear woke up at 1am with a raging 104.5 fever. I tried getting a hold of the Dr. but couldn't so I bundled him up and off we went. Turns out he has Croup too which the Pedi told me kids under 6 months don't usually get it. Well guess what? he did get it. So here we sit in a house full of sickies where I am the only person without any sort of cough, cold, or fever... yep even the BIG boy has the sickies. I think about these families that have kiddos admitted to the hospital all the time and just believe more and more we are so blessed to have happy and healthy (for the most part) children. Thank you God.