Happy Birthday Tuck!

Today is Tuck's birthday.  I keep telling him he is an old man, even though it is not true, and I keep reminding him that I can only dish it out so when my birthday rolls around in June I better not hear any old talk.  We are not even thirty yet, I just like to give him a hard time. I baked a chocolate cake and let the girls decorate it.  Teeter Bees is my little artist.  Every inch much be covered and it needs to look just right.  While, Bowbas ate more of the decorations than she actually put on the cake. 
About a month ago Teeter Bees and I went to Hobby Lobby.  We were looking around at the party decorations and invitations when she spotted the pinatas.  "What is that!" We rolled the cart over to get a better look and I explained what a pinata was.  She LOVED the typical Mexican multicolored donkey pinata.  From then on it was all she could talk about it. All day she would talk about her birthday party, that is not until July, and the pinata that would be present.  Although I have every intention of getting a pinata for her birthday, I thought she would get a kick out of having one for Tuck's birthday too.  So I went out to the same Hobby Lobby, grabbed the last donkey pinata they had, picked up a bag of candy and headed home.  I am not sure that she has ever been so excited before.  Teeter was having a cow when I pulled that pinata out of the shopping bag.  Both the girls helped me fill it with candy.
Tuck loved it!  He said it was the best birthday ever. He really liked that the babies were so involved and he really loved everything, the cake, the pinata, and the dinner.  We knew Teeter Bees would have her little heart broken if we smashed the pinata, and they did not have a pull string pinata in that shape. So we held it up, Tuck batted at it with his hands, and I dumped it over and shook it so some of the candy fell out.  The girls loved it!  Everyone had such a great time, and I am so glad that Tuck had a great birthday!

Day 5 A Love Story

Sorry about my tardiness with today's Valentine's Day 5 post.  Originally, I had planned to present you with another craft, but I decided to tell you a love story that involved two amazing men.  Man 1: Tuck.  Man 2: Brenden Morrow. 
The story starts back years and years ago. My dad had amazing season tickets to the Dallas Stars.  A friend of mine was screaming at me "We HAVE to go! You will LOVE it!"  Boy was she right.  I was immediately addicted to the sport.  It was loud, it was rough, and it was amazing!  Not only was I immediately in love with the sport.  I wanted to take one home with me.  Brenden.  Oh Brenden.  How feisty and...well...amazing he was...is.  I would beg my dad for tickets as often as I could.  I was even blessed with some playoff game tickets one season.  It was the life.

A few years into my obsession, I was dating this fellow.  He was nice enough, I suppose.  One day I was leaving his apartment after having lunch. As I was walking out this tall, blonde, good looking fella was walking in. We did not exchange words.  We just starred at each other for a moment, and I continued to walk to my car and he continued to walk into the apartment.  I had already made plans to go back the next night for dinner and to watch a Dallas Stars playoff game on television.  It is about half way through the game, and I was about half way through a bottle of wine.  I am a loud hockey watcher as it is, but the combination of playoff game and wine may have made me a little louder then normal.  That is when the tall, blonde, good looking fella walked into the apartment.  All he saw was long blonde hair flying about and this tiny little woman underneath screaming at the tv.  "Let's go boys!  Shoot the puck! Yeah!!!"  He was immediately in love.

Almost 7 years after he fell in love with the loud, screaming, hockey obsessed little girl, he had a surprise for her.  (About a week ago) "Honey, I have a special Valentine's gift for you this year.  My company game me tickets to a Stars game."  Boy howdy! Was I excited!  Not only was I excited, but Tuck was excited that he would again get to see that little woman he fell in love with screaming down to the ice.  The seats were amazing.  Very close to where my dad's season tickets were. I felt, at home.  My main man sitting right next me, screaming right along with me.  And my other love skating around down on the ice.  Tuck did not even mind that I was swooning over Brenden.  He just laughed, and kissed my forehead. Now that is real love. The Stars won, 4-2.  Tuck got a little reminder of the day we fell in love.  And I had the best Valentine's present ever!  True love: a man that knows what his woman likes.  Me+Stars= Perfect Valentine's Day Gift. 

I LOVE YOU TUCK-E-BOO!!!!

Goodbye 2009 I'll Remember You Always

     This has been the most amazing year and I am so sad that it came to an end so quickly.  On December 31, 2008 I made a New Year's resolution; to make myself happy in 2009.  I have always been a fairly happy person but 2006, 2007, and 2008 were fairly difficult years.  Not terrible but I can honestly say I was not as happy as I would like to have been.  So, I did not tell anyone my resolution.  I didn't even write it down.  I kept it in my head and told myself to keep this resolution. 


     I'll be honest I've never been a resolution setter, much less a resolution keeper.  But I will tell you this that in 2009 I kept my New Year's resolution 110%!  I did so many things, saw so many things, and learned so much!  I learned that it is ok to think about myself from time to time.  At the same time I learned that making other people happy or feel good makes me happy.  And above all I learned how truly blessed I really am.
    
     In 2009 I...

Spent lots of time with my wonderful family and extended family

My brother came home from the Marine Corps

I got to visit (one of) my cousins and my grandmother down in Austin...and more then once!

The only thing that could top it off is if my older sister and her kids could have come home for the holidays

I went to my very first cake competition in Austin, Texas.  My sister-in-law, A, went with me.  My cousin took us down to 6th Street and we had the time of our lives.  We were hurting the next morning, but it was well worth it.  The most memorable trip to Austin, I'd have to say!

My sister and I saw Rent the Broadway tour in Dallas, with two of the original cast members.  It was amazing!  I love the theater, but Rent takes the cake!

I went on an amazing cruise with 3 of my favorite people in the world.  My sister and her husband (above) and Tuck.  We had an amazing time!  Thanks to the swine flu our 5 day Mexican cruise was turned into an AMAZING 7 day cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman at no additional cost to us other then the two extra days tasty beverages.  Although I really missed the girls, I would be back on that ship in a heart beat.  I have never seen water so blue.  Jamaica was really pretty but Cayman was my favorite.  We ate lots, drank even more, made some new friends, and had the time of our lives.  The best memories ever! "Ugly Betty this is Dinah, over"

For the Fourth of July my cousin and his girlfriend came up from Austin.  We pretty much hung out at the house but we were accompanied by a pony keg and a nice bottle of Grey Goose.  My cousin's girlfriend beat Tuck at Risk, which made me love her even more then I already did!  Tuck never loses at Risk and she whooped him!  I love that girl!

I made lots of cakes, created my cake business website, and had a booth at my very first Bridal Show in Rockwall, Texas.  You can read all about those adventures on my cake blog.  Up until this year I was 100% self taught, but in February I decided to take a beginner class.  Although I knew all the things that were taught in the class I did learn some neat tips and tricks in the 4 night class I took.

Tuck and I were fortunate enough, not only to get to keep our jobs this year when so many people were out of work, but we were fortunate enough to get to give our daughters fun birthdays that they will enjoy looking back at the pictures and remembering how much fun they had with all the bubbles, tutus, presents, and cake.  Grumps and Gigi (my dad and step mom) blessed us with a nap mat for Teeter's birthday and a playhouse for the backyard for Bowbas's birthday.  The girls LOVE this stuff!  Teeters loves laying on her nap mat in the play room.  Since it has a blanket it attached it's really more like a sleeping bag but she love, love, loves it. "I wanna lay on my mabmat"  Bowbas can't wait to go outside and get in their house everyday.  Teeters loves it too, but Bowbas just loves to take the watering can in there, shut the door, come back out, ring the door bell.

 

We also got to take the girls to the Ringlig Bros Circus.  A perk of going to the circus is riding the train.  Tuck hates riding the train, but the kids love it and it costs $6 to ride all day versus paying $25 to park at American Airlines and sit in traffic to get in and out.  Going to the circus is always a really long day and the girls were pooped afterwards.  They had popcorn, cotton candy, they got stuffed pink ponies, programs, and  spinning light things.  All kinds of wonderful stuff.  Teeters loves elephants so the circus was a highlight of her year.  She talked about it for weeks afterwards, and would look through her program numerous times a day.

And...

I got to see the great Paul McCartney in concert at the new Cowboy's stadium.  It was one of the most amazing nights of my life.  I saw Paul McCartney, live.  I can now justify that he is real and amazing! Hahaha!

Then...

Tuck got a promotion at work.  He had a 5 year goal which I must say he stuck to very well considering that he met his goal in only 4 years.  It has been an interesting transition for him, but he and everyone around him is adjusting.  It has been great for our family and he is now working on his goal for the next 5 years.  I am very pround of him.

Teeters took her very first and possibly last dance class this year.  We went for a month, but she was not a big fan once they moved the class into a room where the parents could not come in.  Either way she had fun at first and we did not force it on her.  Once she begged me to not take her then we were done.

This Halloween was so much fun!  We went to downtown McKinney for Scare on the Square.  There were a lot of people but the Bowbas and Teeter Bees had so much fun! Mimi and Pop (my mom and step dad) and K, J, and Little Cheeky B came with us, the girls got lots of candy in their buckets, and then we ate dinner at Fudruckers.  It was a great time even though I locked my keys in my car. Thank you A for coming to save the day!

I got a very early Christmas gift this year from Tuck.  A new camera that I have been wanting for a while now.  I love it!  There are no words and I can not wait to learn more about it so I can capture the best possible pictures of my daughter's memories.  This type of camera does take a little getting used to since you are responsible for focusing it.  I'm catching on and I love it!

And...

The holidays.  I did so many fun things with my girls.  We went to a tree lighting in Allen, where Bowbas's "Wubbies" was lost.  It was really stressful but still a memory.  We had a beautiful Thanksgiving at home with a few family members.  I spend probably about 10 hours of preparing and cooking for 20 or so minutes of eating, but it was well working it. We went to McKinney's Dicken's Christmas.  It was not exactly what we thought it would be, but we still had fun.  Mrs. S and I took the kids to Crump's Garden in north McKinney to see all the poinsettas.  It was beautiful!  Then Mrs. S and her kids came over the make gingerbread houses (which I had a post about).  We watched all our favorite Christmas movies during the season, baked lots and lots of cookies and other treats, and had a fire in the fireplace more then once.  It snowed on Christmas Eve.  It was a white Christmas morning.  We spent lots of time with family.  And it was all so memorable.

And finally...

I am going into 2010 with the hope that it will be equally as good as or better then 2009.  I am honestly sad to see 2009 come to an end so quickly.  I will always look back on this year with such a fond heart.  Tears come to my eyes when I think of how incredibly blessed I truly am.  Have a Happy New Year everyone!

How Was Your Christmas?

     Christmas came and went with a blink of an eye.  I have to admit that this year I am glad that it is over.  It was magical though.  We had a white Christmas.  A white Christmas in Texas!  Can you believe it!?  The only negative was that we had to drive all over the world in the ice.  It was way too much driving and I am putting it out there now that next year...one Christmas at our house.
     The girls loved everything though. All the presents, the fire, the music, the candy, the magic.  It was amazing and I am so glad that Santa left our house looking like a Christmas Wonderland.

 

Thank You Julia

     So I am going to put it out there right now...I LOVE the movie Julie & Julia.  Meryl Strep was amazing, as always, and she really made me love Julia Child.  Also, I really related to Julie Powell.  I would like to know what woman has seen this movie and did not run out and buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I did not see this movie in the theater.  Tuck went out the day the movie came out on DVD and rented it for me.  I went and bought it on DVD the next day.  I really loved it. A couple days later I came home with Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  When I got home with the book, I was so intimidated by the contents that I almost took it back to Barns and Noble to return it.
     I decided to keep the book after reading a little more into it.  I became more comfortable with the book.  I will say this cook book is not for the impatient or those who can not follow directions.  To complete one recipe you will have to read 3-5 different pages, it will take you quite a while to complete, and if you do not follow the instructions carefully the recipe will not turn out. I suggest putting post its on the pages you will need for the recipe you are working on.
     Sometimes I can get impatient, but not with cooking.  So I decided to make Boeuf Bourguignon and a Souffle A La Vanille for dessert.  It took me about 5 hours of non-stop cooking on Friday evening.  I will tell you that Julia Child's cooking is for weekend purposes, and not for after a long day at work and shopping.  Also, it is expensive but well worth every minute and cent that you put into it.

So 4 hours into cooking the boeuf was ready!  Tuck and I were so excited and really hungry because it was close to 9 pm.  We normally eat around 6 pm.  It was amazing!! The meat was tender, so full of flavor, and you could eat an entire meal of just those sauteed mushrooms and brown braised pearl onions.  Tuck and I love food, but I have never seen Tuck eat like he did on Friday night.  It was so amazing.  This recipe makes a lot of food.  It called for 3 pounds of stewing beef.  There is not one drop left of this, we ate it all.  If you ever want to make an impressive meal, this is the one to make.  In Julie & Julia, Julie makes this meal for Judith Jones who ends up cancelling at the last minute due to rain.  When Julie's husband sits down with the big plate he takes a bite and then adds salt.  Julie says "is it bland?"  All I have to say is that you would have to do something really really wrong to make this meal bland.  It was so full of flavor I just do not see how this could ever be bland.

We served it with fresh French bread.  I think I already said it was amazing, but it was amazing!  While we were feasting on my (actually Julia's) masterpiece, the Vanilla Souffle was baking away.

I was so nervous about the souffle. Did I beat the egg whites long enough?  Where those stiff peaks I saw, or soft peaks? What if it cooks over? My mold was a little taller then what Julia says to use, but it still puffed up and was delicous.  I do not know how we were able to eat it, but we found the room in our bellies and ate almost the entire thing.

So thank you Julia Child for such amazing recipes.  It was the best dinner I ever had.

To See or Not to See?

So the other day Tuck and I started discussing whether or not we should take the kids to see The Princess and the Frog.  The radio film critic gave it 2 out of 5 stars for family friendliness because of the "dark voo-doo magic" present in the film. 

Princess and the Frog

A witch doctor uses voo-doo magic to turn the prince into a frog. The critic said there were some positive messages in the movie, but the dark voo-doo magic brought up more then once in the movie caused him to give it 2 out of 5 stars for family friendliness. Tell us...will you be taking your kids to see this movie?



The other movie that just came up today is the Alvin & The Chipmunk Squeakwal.  I couldn't wait to take the girls to see this movie until today, and now Tuck and I are not sure if it is appropriate for younger kids.  Teeter and Bowbas were watching TV with me.  A preview for this movie came on.  It was the preview when Alvin is playing football, lands in the end zone, pops up with the ball and says "Boo-ya!  Shake what your mama gave ya!" and starts shaking his booty. 
 

Alvin & The Chipmunks

I still did not think anything of this until Teeter was yelling "Shake what your mama gave ya!"  and Bowbas was yelling "Boo-ya!"  It was really hard to not laugh since the girls' voices sound like little chipmunks.  But Tuck walked into the room and was caught off by the sound of our 3 year old saying "shake what your mama gave ya!"  He did not think it was appropriate at all.  Keep in mind we have not seen the first one, so I am not aware of the family friendliness of the original movie.  Will you be taking your kids to see this movie?

Easy Chicken Empanadas

I apologize for there only being one photo for this one.  I had so much going on while cooking I did not take photos of the process.   Then Tuck was so hungry that before I could get my camera put together to take photos of the final product, he had plated them and had already begun eating...so you get a photo of my plate. :)


I came up with the recipe for these with a little inspiration from Pillsbury.  Pillsbury has a recipe for taco melts.  We LOVE taco melts, but I am a little burnt out on ground beef.  It seems like 90% of our meals, for a while, had ground beef.  I am ready for a change.  I went into the kitchen and threw two chicken breasts into a pot of boiling water.  I told myself I would figure out what to do with it once it was done cooking.

Suburban Mama's Easy Chicken Empanadas

2 Chicken breasts

1 package Mccormick's Enchilada Sauce Mix

1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups of water

Mexican blend shredded cheese

1 can of Pillsbury's Grands Biscuits

Boil the chicken until cooked through.  While the chicken is boiling, make the enchilada sauce using the water and tomato sause.  Follow the directions on the back of the enchilada mix.  When the chicken is cooked through place on a cutting board to cool.  You will want the chicken to cool just enough that you can handle it.  Shred the chicken and place in a bowl or the pot you boiled the chicken in if you would like to use the least number of dishes possible.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the chicken.  Put as much or as little as you like.  I like mine to be just coated, but Tuck likes extra sauce on his.  Open your can of biscuits and roll each out into a flattened disk about 6 inches, give or take a little.  Place the biscuit onto a cookie sheet.  Add the chicken mixture on top of the biscuit, top with cheese, and fold over.  After you have folded the biscuit over, use a fork and press the edges all the way around to seal the empanada. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Serve with your choice of  sour cream, hot sauce, queso, or left over enchilada sauce.  Tuck likes all of the above poured over his.

These are super simple and you'll have a fun, child friendly, husband friendly, meal on the table in about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Welcome

Hi!  My name is Bree. I decided it is time for a personal blog.  I have had a blog for some time now but it is for my cake business, but I really feel like I can't post personal blogs on the business blog.  I am a mother to two wonderful little ladies. 

"Teeter Bees" is 3 years old and she's amazing.  She loves her sister more then anything.  She loves elephants like you wouldn't believe.  She is creative, smart, and says the funniest things in the world. I look forward to her hugs in the morning, and I can't wait to get home in the evenings to hear about her day. 

I love how excited she gets about things. Everything is an exciting adventure for her and that attitude makes me excited about whatever it is we are doing.  I love the way she says "Oh Mama! That's beautiful!" in her tiny little munchkin voice.  I love the way her little teeth fit together and her big blue eyes.  There is one little thing I do not love though.  I do not love that this little angel is so allergic to fire ants.  A fire ant allergy in Texas is just horrible, and I wish there way I could take that away from her.

"Bowbas" is our little firecracker.  She is tiny but can put away almost as much food as her daddy can.  She loves Teeter and her Wubbies (her little teddy bear/blanket) more then anything. She has a temper but she is low key.  She enjoys being outside and perfers to ride around in an umbrella stroller then to walk through a crowd of people. I look foward to kissing her warms cheeks in the morning, and I can't wait to see her running towards me when I get home in the evenings.

I love how much she loves My Little Ponies. I love her crooked little smile and her sweet blue eyes.  I love how her little cheeks always smell good, and how they remind me of warm cookies after she wakes up.  I love her tired baby voice she has early in the morning. I love how she will always share with Teeter Bees.  And I love love love her little walk.  It's a great walk.

I love that I am addicted to my kids.  I could never live without them.  I have absolutely no idea what my husband, "Tuck", and I used to talk about.  We talk about various things but the conversation always goes back to those sweet little girls.

Tuck got his nickname from being excellent at tucking people in at night.  He steals the covers during the night, so one night he layered some blankets on me and tucked me in so when he stole the comforter I wouldn't wake up freezing in the night.  I slept like a baby on a pillow of feathers.  I was warm and snuggled.  Ever since I can't wait for him to tuck me in.  It sounds really odd, but I sleep so good!

I met Tuck years ago.  I was actually dating his best friend.  We will go more in depth with that story at a later time.  All I'll say right now is that Tuck works really hard everyday.  When he is at home he loves to play World of Warcarft.  How did I marry such a nerd?  The girls love him and he loves the girls.  

 

I love how we love watching movies together.  I love how he puts up with all the crazy ideas that are always flying around in my head.  He's almost always understanding and he thinks I am good at everything I do.  What more could I ask for?

So now that you know a little about us, buckle your seat belt and join us for the ride of surviving alife of work, raising children, crafts, cooking, tears, fears, smiles, and trails.

Enjoy!