Always a Texan

So a fellow displaced Texan posted this link to Facebook about 19 foods Texans can't live without. Umm..yes! So here's my take on them:

1. Chili - yum. Of course I like the turkey variety and NO beans please. Good thing is you can get pretty good chili in  most any state. Whew.

2. Chicken Fried Steak (or chicken for me): man I crave this often. Surely there is a place here I can find a good one. It needs some white gravy, mashed 'taters with brown gravy and fried okra to go with it! Agree with the author that the Gristmill in Gruene is the best!

3. Kolaches - I have no idea why these tiny bites of Heaven haven't made it to the East coast yet. They're missing out. Jarid refuses to go to Dunkin' Donuts because "what's the point? They don't have kolaches." ha.

4. Pecan pie - umm, it's most definitely not pronounced "Pee-can" pie. People say that?? Well this one is marked off my list b/c I don't love it. So that only makes 18 foods I can't live without (maybe I could substitute Taco Cabana in there??)

5. Homemade tamales - one of the greatest things about living in San Antonio and having friends who go home to the Valley to visit their parents is they return with homemade tamales! Bean and cheese or chicken for me please. Yum.

 

6. Sweet tea - yessssss. Give me sweet tea any day. Tea without sugar just isn't right. Bill Miller and Chick Fil A seem to excel at tea making.

 

7. Shiner Bock - I'm a light beer kinda gal but I know Jarid sure loves him some Shiner.

 

 

 

8. Whataburger - not a week goes by that I don't at least think about driving thru the Whataburger lane to get me some chicken strips with Texas toast (and gravy!), fries and Fancy Ketchup. Yes, Fancy Ketchup was meant to be capitalized. It's that good. Since I don't eat beef I don't miss the hamburgers but the strips, grilled chicken sandwich and taquitos haunt me! Thankfully the BFF sent us some of that Fancy Ketchup so we at least have that. {side note: many a memory was made at a Whataburger in the 2:30am time frame when people needs to get some sustenance before heading home}

 

9. Breakfast tacos - see #8 and #4 (Whataburger & Taco C - enough said.)

 

10. Tacos - thankfully we can get delicious tacos here in VA and they are on the menu in some form at least once a week. Like the article said when the question is asked "what should we eat" the answer is usually "tacos" round here.

 

11. Tortillas - I miss the refrigerated kind I could heat up on my skillet that tasted like homemade. Wegman's needs to start selling those here - stat!

 

12. Ranch dressing - best for salads and wings in my humble opinion but yes, lots of folks dip their pizza in it (weirdos!)

 

13. Dr. Pepper - when I ask for a "coke" at a restaurant I mean "dr. pepper." The only reason I don't buy this delicious goodness at my house is because I'd drink 3 by lunch time. Some things are just better not in my house.

 

 

 

14. Texas BBQ - *sigh* we're still looking for a good BBQ place here. Anyone want to send us some??

 

15. Chips and queso - one of the greatest inventions ever created. Yes, we can make it with velvetta and a can of rotel but it's just not the same as Chuy's.

 

16. Julio's chips and sauce - thanks to my college roommate and friend Kelly for introducing me to these salty delights. Most trips back to Houston I'd have bags of these for my dad and brothers. They were harder to find in Dallas so I've been suffering along without them for some time now...(and HEB *sniffle, sniffle*)

 

17.  Chips and salsa - a restaurant's quality can be determined by their chips and salsa and margaritas. Make those things well and I'm a customer for life!

 

18. Blue Bell - the best ice cream in the country. Seriously. That's their motto for a reason. I hear you can get it here (from another transplanted Texan) but have yet to find it. If I did I guess all those calories I'm burning breastfeeding the baby would go straight to that gallon though.

 

19. Margaritas - the other love of my life. Sugar on the rim for a strawberry marg or salt for a lime one. Brings me right back to my happy place every time! Even better if there is a Corona sticking out of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Ruben and Pam visit DC :)

We love visitors. Especially visitors from Texas. Wait, that's where all our visitors come from ;) Ruben and Pam came in for the weekend and we had such a fun time! Pam came with us on a play date to the water fountains and then to chick fil a (don't worry Kerry - we were wishing you were there too!!) The guys did their own thing so we ate dinner and took the kids on a walk in the awesome weather. They met up with us later and took the pups on a walk too.

The next day we went to the Udvar-Hazy flight museum. We'd never been up to the observation deck before so we went up and saw a few planes land and take off. Of course we spent lots of time at the space shuttle Discovery and looking at all the planes in general. Pretty sure Ruben was in his own special Heaven :)

Then we headed off to DC to see some sights. We saw the Lincoln Memorial (with it's green paint on b/c people are idiots and have no respect apparently!) and the WWII memorial (which was a hit b/c the kids played in the water.) After that it was getting late and looked like it was about to pour so we headed back home. Good timing too b/c we weren't even on the highway yet before the rain unleashed. Whew!

Morgan kept showing off to Pam and Owen of course started to as well. He was calling her "Ma'am" which was cute to hear him say "excuse me Ma'am?" and referred to Ruben as Rubey. Ha. So cute.

The next day we met up again and went to Reston Town Center for a yummy dinner and let the kids splash in the water. So basically Ruben and Pam came to town, saw DC and the kids played in water. Ha. We can't wait til they come to see us again :)

utilizing her first amendment to preach to the masses

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Farmer's market and zoo show

Last week we went to the Farmer's market and a zoo show. It was a cool 63 out when I woke up and it was only about 72 when we left the house. Crazy. So I put the kids in pants since I knew most of the show/market would be in the shade. We got to pet some animals, bought some yummy food and then ate lunch with some friends. All in all a great day.

mid blink but a fun marsupial on the table

peaches, okra, basil - oh my!

basil + parsley + parm cheese + oil + garlic = delicious pesto!

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ER

Well, we knew it'd happen eventually. We took our very first trip to the ER as parents last week. To be exact - Jarid and Owen took the trip. The kids and I went swimming at the apartment complex pool while Jarid (with the help of Peyton!) cooked dinner on the grill outside the pool area. Owen went potty in his swim diaper and well, that just creates a nasty mess. So I took him and Morgan to the bath room to change him - I put him in the shower to just wash him off. Once he was rinsed off I cleaned out his swim trunks and before I could say "be careful, it's slippery!" Owen walked out of the shower and slipped. He hit the back of head right on the raised part of the floor and cut it wide open.

He cried and was bleeding everywhere so I scooped him up in a towel with no shorts on and headed out to Jarid. I've never seen Morgan walk so carefully in her life after watching him slip! He'd stopped crying by the time we got to Jarid but it was pretty evident he'd need stitches b/c the cut was so wide.

We packed up the (thankfully cooked already!) food and headed home for clean clothes. Jarid took him by himself since it was already late and it made the most sense (even though I just wanted to BE there just because!)

They got him in right away and he even saw a pediatrician. He kept telling everyone around "boo boo!" and pointing to his head. After they checked in blood pressure he asked if they could do that to Daddy too. Jarid said he barely flinched when he got them in and they didn't even numb it! Crazy. Three staples later and he was as good as new ;) He came home showing off his hospital bracelet and the bazillion stickers they gave him.

Getting the staples out (at our regular Pedi's office)...different story. Poor guy had a crooked staple and it took some, ahem, work to get out. He was NOT a fan of the digging around in his poor little head and definitely screamed. Once she was done he hopped down off my lap and said "Thank you!" immediately followed by "done? Done?" Poor guy but, they're all out and the gash is looking great. So now if he ever decides to shave his head he'll have a "tough guy" scar. Ha.


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VBS

Last year Morgan got to go to vacation bible school at our church in Dallas. But it doesn't seem to be a "thing" at the Catholic churches here. The only ones that do offer it are either 1. far away or 2. don't offer til Kinder. A friend from bible study said she used to go to a community church's vbs growing up and was sending her daughter. So we signed Morgan up as well. She (of course!) had a blast. I was a wee bit nervous since I wasn't going to be there and didn't know the volunteers (and may or may not have written my phone number in the back of her shirt each day...) but it was a pretty well oiled machine with security codes and all.

Owen and Peyton and I had fun that week too - just me and the boys :) We played at home, took the dogs on long walks, went and played at Target, had a Starbucks date, went to a playdate at Emma's house, hit up the farmer's market, saw some animals and all in all just got a bit more attention than normal. Owen was loving it! When we went to pick up Morgan though he couldn't get to her fast enough and ended up sitting with her class b/c he couldn't stand just waiting for her while the rest of the program wrapped up. I love that about them :)

Friday night they had a VBS wrap up night and we got to see Morgan singing and dancing to the songs she'd learned all week. The older kids did a few plays which were entertaining too.

I have to admit that waking up and being OUT of the house by 840 (at the latest!) every morning was kinda killing me. I don't look forward to that in the future! Thank goodness for an awesome hubby/daddy who usually gets up with them in the mornings. Ha!

Turn it up VBS day one :)

Starbucks for mommy, apple juice for Owen

M being M :)

playing on the train

checking out the owl

I LOVE this pic - Dana is protecting Liam from that snake!

P practicing his new skills :)

And smiling of course!

Bucket O' Owen

Friday night wrap up concert and show

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Hairs cut

We took O to get his monthly hair cut at the mall ( only the mall bc apparently they are the only place he can get it cut b/c they give lollipops - ha!) and M has been asking to get hers cut as well. So cut we did! It looks SO cute this short and it stays out of her face so much better :) Afterwards we played in the park (by passing the mall play ground b/c it was nut-so in there) which was much better anyway. Last pic is just a reminder of the beautiful place we call home now :)

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