Slowness in the world of Blogging

So, I have noticed lately that many people haven't been blogging lately because they say there's nothing to post...nothing exciting happening. I think the holidays wear us all out and January is spent recovering from all the fun, anticipation, food and chaos. I guess its just back to the grind...same old errands, school, church, chores, meetings,etc...Not that we're complaining, right?

Anyhow, here are a few random pics I caught of the boys:

Shane LOVES Peanut Butter Toastie

By request, Christian decided the Bro-hawk was the way to go

They look so cute dressed up

My 3 favorite boys!!

Watching "Choo-Choo", legs up, snack on hand, unloaded the sofa...relax time!!

Bringin' SD Comida to Tejas...

I am by no means a gourmet cook. Actually, my motto is usually, the more convenient and simple, the better. However, I have had a craving for something that just is not available at any place that I know of here in Corpus. In San Diego, our favorite restaurant is Sammy's Woodfired Pizza...but we love it for their yummy salads and appetizers...ok, actually the whole delicious menu. Long story short, I wanted their Chicken Chopped Salad. So I made it myself. I found a knock-off recipe off the internet and adjusted it a bit to my liking...and it tastes SO much like Sammy's I would venture to say its identical.
Here's the dressing:SAMMY'S BALSAMIC BASIL DRESSING
1 cup balsamic vinegar ( I used a little less)
2 cups canola oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
Add all ingredients to blender and blend. Refrigerate. Makes 3 cups (which is actually a TON!!)

Here's the salad:
Finely chopped iceberg and romaine lettuce
diced roma tomatoes (as tasty)
grated fresh mozerella (Gav likes this on the heavy side!)
fresh chopped Basil
fresh Grilled Chicken Breasts chopped into slices/or dices
Optional: sun-dried tomatoes or specialty olives (neither of which I care for...but some might!)
The salad ingredients' portions are up to your disgression...if you like more lettuce and just a few tomatoes and a hint of cheese... you get the point. Then apply dressing and toss....

VERY tasty...if I do say so!! ENJOY!!
This cooking endeavor gave me an itch to try other yummy dishes we cannot get down here on our secluded island of Corpus Christi... stay tuned.

Vile and yet great...is that possible?

Gavin and I have often talked about TV being so great and yet so vile at the same time. We can be watching a great and funny show...and on the same network they will chose to advertise a more vile show. Disappointing. So Christian and I were watching the game show network...watching Family Feud (pretty wholesome)...and the commercial in between was for a Hollywood matchmaker. Long story short...it advertised that one of her rules was "No sex". So Christian turns to me and says "Uh, Mom, what was her rule?"...instinctively I say " No kissing or something like that." Another case in point, how do you explain to your innocent children when they see on tv or on the streets why a guy is dressed like a girl?? We certainly live in a different time as parents than our parents had to deal with. I'm still teaching my children that "stupid" and "shut-up" are bad words. I guess we do our best...and filter out the majority. I love the parental control abilities we have now-a-days.
And yet, when in history have we had so much good and protective information available to us universally. Christian has learned some wonderful things from some of his programs. And honestly, I will not deny that the tv is a great babysitter so I can actually shower during the day or accomplish anything for that matter...hmmm...just some thoughts!!!

This is what you call "Work"...

As a flight surgeon, I get to fly with the pilots in my squadron....pretty cool benefit. Here are some camera phone pics from the last flight I was on. It was a formation flight where the planes are pretty close together the whole time. Again, pictures are worth a thousand words (and girls always write way too much = )

"There's no place like home..."

...the journey continued...

There are many reasons to go to CALI. A few for our most recent visit were the return of Elder Uncle JOE ( the MAIN one), cousin wedding, see Gav's fam, surf, eat good food, see all the cousins, uh,surf....and to feel at home!! Seeing Joe was the highlight of our trip to CA...he is the epitome of a perfect brother. And 2 years on the mission just made him even better. We love Uncle Jo-Jo. Plus, it was a perfect way to see a whole bunch of family all at the same time.

Then we celebrated Shane's 2nd birthday on an airplane back to Texas ( much to Christian's dismay). We all miss that comforting feeling that being home in San Diego near family and life-long friends...and being near everything familiar...even driving down I-5 brings back great memories (pathetic, I know!).

Family + Holidays= Magical Memories

I'm a pretty mathmatically logical person...hence the equation title. It makes perfect sense to me. We've had holidays with family and some without...each with their memories. But this was a special season for my family to be together...and to be united. Christmas in Arizona was awesome. It was chilly...which I enjoyed. And my sister and her family made everything so accommodating and perfect. Besides the boys dissappearing for 4 hours on Christmas Eve to go to the shooting range...we hardly had a glich....ok, and maybe finding a suitable hill to sled down in Flagstaff. But, minor details, huh?! Christian and Shane (and Gav) got to experience a tradition I grew up with...waking up EARLY Christmas morning and "watching" Santa bring in the gifts. The look in Christian's eyes was priceless...the deep "Ho-Ho-Ho" repeatedly from Shane was comical...and Gav, my kid at heart, trying to figure this all out, hilarious~! As always, we were spoiled by all the gifts...hence the 48 lb box shipped home. And AZ wasn't the end of our holiday journey............

CAUTION: Objectionable Material!!

I apologize in advance for the embarrassment Shane will feel when he is about 10 years older and sees that his mom posted his manhood all over the blog... but we are so proud of our 1 year old potty training!

Thanks to the help of our friendly "Melmo"...Shane has taken a liking to sitting on the potty and going tinkle. Most men will probably sigh and run away from this post saying something like "YOU mothers!" or "isn't there anything sacred anymore"....but as a Mom, we take pride in our big achievements. Getting a kid to LIKE to potty-train is a momentous occassion in our Mommy life!

Priming the pump!

The Studious "Pee"er

Santa or Scrooge

Parties, parties and more parties...almost partied out! I love Christmas and I love parties, but I think we have our fill for the year. Here are some of the highlights:

Ward Christmas Party (why do 6 yo ruin cute pics?)

White Elephant Exchange (Gav lost..obviously!)

Santa's Visit #100

Adult Work Party

Creative Housekeeping

When I just cannot take another hand on my mop, or another tupperware thrown on the ground...and I just would like to complete a cleaning project, much to my better judgement, I give Shane his "wa-wa". Surprisingly, we didn't have any casualties...and my kitchen was clean for 10 hours!

Life as a mom...definitely not bon-bons and soaps (does anyone still watch soaps??)

If I only gave one child the attention they wanted, my whole day would be gone.

And yet I LOVE it!! It takes so little to remember why I do what I do. Just look at this face!!!

10 Mile Radius

How many people cannot seem to get beyond their 10 mile radius of errands, school, church,work... yep, us too!! It was great this past week to have a reason to bust out of Corpus for a short time....and then get a different take on our secluded island.

Gav's parents (aka Gammie and Papa) came into town on Wednesday and are headed out on a plane right now. We picked them up in San Antonio...which gave us the opportunity to make our first official stop as a tourist in San Antonio. We visited the Alamo, took a boat ride on the RiverWalk and saw the festive downtown SA.

The rest of the time they were here, we came back to Corpus. Poor Papa had quite the "honey-do" list of fix-its around our home...for which I am so thankful. They helped us get the outside holiday decor done...and also our beautiful tree.
Saturday morning we went to our squadron kids party where Santa and his elf flew in on a T44 to bring the gifts. SUPER Cute!! I love to see the magic in the kids' eyes. Christian is at that magical age. Shane's still at the FREAKED out age!! We showed them our beaches, downtown Corpus, the Texas Surf Museum, and a cool park on the bay...just check out the slideshow!
We are just so lucky to have them in our lives and are glad to have a few special days with them. We miss all our family and friends...come visit!!