The Ultimate Blogging Party...Featuring ~ Photo Hunters
Welcome
To
Tampa, Florida!
...It's
Party Time!
make yourselves comfortable, and grab a lei and a pair of flip flops, as we want you to enjoy the warm tropical breeze. While mingling with the guest, you may notice some wild tropical animals, not to worry, we have professional trainers to handle and provide for your safety.
Hope you will joinon the dance floor later!Oh, I see we have some first time guest, let me introduce just the two of us, I am Pamela and this is my hubby Dennis. So nice to meet you!
Just the two of us have been happily married for going on 28 years this June. We have three grown children, two of which are married and then our son who has a sweet girl friend. You can read more about it in my sidebar.
We are so blessed and tickled that our oldest son Kevin and Renee just had our second grand baby last week, her name is Arianna Corrine. Her big brother Ben is only 14 months old but loves to give his sister many kisses, which is so cute! However, he has also been caught dive bombing her with a stuffed animal (seems I remember something similar when his Daddy was a baby) hehe! Kevin is a Supervisor with a large Cable co., and Renee is an incredible SA
HM!
Terrence is going out with Jenny, a delightfully sweet and bright student at a private Christian University. He is a Meat Cutter with Publix and She is tackling finals this week with six classes!
Terry had two brand new kittens that are adorable and so entertaining and actually like to play with Jenny's Ferret that she brings over to visit every now and then from the dorms.
Our baby, Chrystal just married David and they will celebrate their 1st Anniversary on June 10th! They met at Oral Roberts University and married shortly after graduating. They both have been promoted to Manager of their respective restaurants, Chrystal at Mimi's Cafe, and David at AppleB's. They are currently house hunting and learning quickly the pitfalls of making an offer and negotiating.
As you can see our kids mean the world to us. We love meeting new people and appreciate life so very much as it has certainly been rocky at times but God has never given us more than we could ever handle. If anything, I feel I just appreciate everything so much more so and try really hard not to sweat the small stuff.
So go! Mingle have fun! I will catch up with you later as I am so eager to learn more about you too! *smile*
Feel up to a little Limbo? How low can you go! lol
I hear they are mixing up a mean Mai Tai over at the Tiki Hut, of course Dennis and I don't drink but we want our guest to enjoy themselves!
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Grab a seat the Picture is just about to begin, featuring "The Photo Hunters"; today's theme is "SALTY". Well, let me tell you there is not many things I can think of that are saltier than the ocean. Which, by the way is my favorite place in the whole world! So for my guest of honor...The Photo Hunters...I present The Beach! A pretty girl, Chrystal, a little suspense, action and special effects! hehe! We enjoyed watching Chrystal and Bill parasail that day while my cousins were visiting from Oklahoma!
Photo Hunters is hosted by
TNchick and if you would like to play click on the button on my sidebar.
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Hey, if you are up to it, they are looking for players for a Volley Ball game on the beach!
Nothing like a beach sunset for atmosphere!
Just the two of us are so glad you came!
I see some of you have been laughing at the comedian...lol He is funny!
Watch the hanky panky stuff, this party is being hosted by new gparents and Dennis frequently feels obligated to cover my eyes when he thinks I am being exposed to too much!
If you would like to join in on Karaoke, feel free to use one of the instruments, after all we all could use a good laugh! lol
Meet Padre, he is one of the professional trainers. He is keeping an eye on all the party animals! :)
We have Valet service that will gladly take you back to your beach condos!
There are oodles of bloggers you can visit through the Ultimate Blogging Party being hosted by Janice and Susan of
5 Minutes For Mom. So after you leave a comment hurry on over and party on! Thanks again to Susan and Janice, this was so much fun and next week I am looking forward to introducing a first time guest and blog about meeting them...so the fun continues!
Friday's Favorite Ingredients ~ Roast Beef
Roast Beef with Vegetables
Total Ingredients: 10
There is nothing like a hearty
roast beef dinner served on
Sunday afternoon, right after church.
A special favorite of
our two boys, Kevin and Terrence
One serving of Roast Beef
provides all of your daily requirement
of vitamin B12
Ingredients:
1 boneless rump roast
1 sm pkg baby carrots
2 medium sweet onions
1/2 pkg celery stalks
1 32 oz box beef broth or
...dry white wine
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 C chopped fresh basil
2 Lbs small red skinned potatoes
2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in
2 T water
1 1/2 tsp salt & pepper
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325*F.
Rub roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Sear in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until browned on all sides, 8 minutes. Transfer to 9 x 13 baking dish. Wash, clean and scrub vegetables, as needed, place all around sides of roast. Saute onions and garlic in pan drippings until onions are browned, about 8 minutes, stir in basil and remaining salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes, add beef broth, or dry red wine. Pour juices over roast and vegetables. Transfer to oven and roast 1 1/2 hours, turning roast once.
Add potatoes and remaining basil to pan, adding water if needed to come 1 1/2 inches up side of pan. Roast until meat and vegetables are tender, 1 hour longer. Slice meat and arrange on serving platter with vegetables. Strain braising liquid into saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk dissolved cornstarch into liquid and bring to a boil. Cook until gravy thickens, about 1 minute. Ladle over roast and vegetables.
Sending out a big *thank you* to
Overwhelmed With Joy for letting me participate in her Favorite Ingredients Friday Super Bowl Sunday Edition recipe exchange that she is hosting. Click on the link to get more great recipes.
If you missed my recipes for:
Apple Crepes
click hereFunny Cake
click hereBacked Beans
click hereSkewered Shrimp
click hereSwiss Ham Ring Around
click hereCream Puffs
click hereCheesecake
click hereOatmeal Barley Soup
click hereHoliday Recipe Blogger Style/Meringue Wreaths
click here
Iced Pumpkin bars
click hereBanana Pudding
click hereZesty Cheese Asparagus Quiche
click hereIt has been unusually hotter than normal here in Florida with temperatures reaching 86 degrees that last few days. Dennis had the day off and had called a repairman to come out and repair our television in the family room. It took the guy no more than 5 minutes to replace the vertical circuit breaker and collect his $170. fee. If only I would have studied electricity as a kid!
Later, we had a few tree companies give us estimates on cutting down our enormous Sycamore tree that has cracked our driveway. So far, we have received a bid for $1,700., and one for $1,500. Tomorrow, we have a third company coming to give us an estimate. Anyone willing to work for $150. an hour!
My hubby was dismayed to say the least when the second company tree cutter asked what kind of tree is it? Dennis said, "You would think a guy who is in the tree cutting business would be able to identify a Sycamore"! I agreed and we had a good laugh. Scary stuff!
Some of you may have heard about our famous Strawberry Festival that is going on right now in Plant City, Florida. Everyone who goes enjoys making their own strawberry shortcakes at a cost of $3.00 each., the proceeds go to St. Clements Catholic church and would you believe they turned in a profit of $165,000 last year. Now that's a fund raiser!
So, it's just the two of us enjoying watching the big TV, excited to be getting Cable for the first time in 10 years this Saturday, and checking off the "To Do's" on our list of things to do! Hoping you all are enjoy a wonderful weekend and that we see you at our blog party tomorrow!
A Camera Opens Up a Whole New World
My laptop has been overheating and then shutting off for quite a while now. The internal fan appears to be on the blink, never the less, I will be stopping by Best Buy or Comp USA this week to get a
jump drive so I can save everything on the hard drive to it, and then I won't lose any of my work.
I am looking forward to the Ultimate Blog party that Janice and Susan are hosting from
5 Minutes For Mom and hope to get through that, then I will most likely try to take in my laptop in to see if they can fix it.
It is hard to believe that before my daughter, Chrystal and I stood in line, the day after Thanksgiving, four years ago, to get these absolutely incredible buys on electronics, I didn't have a digital camera.
I got my camera for $99. It opened up a whole new world, I love the ease of taking pictures, and then using the one button upload feature the Kodak dock offers. I was shocked the other day when when I realized the number of pictures I actually had on the computer between Picasso, Kodak and Adobe, it's got to be over 2000 pictures. Since getting my camera several incredible camera's have come on the market and one day I hope to splurge and get one but for now mine does what I need it to do.
One day while leaving to go somewhere, I was shocked when I noticed a picture in our entryway that I had printed off two years ago had faded to the point where you no longer could see the faces. I was stunned when I realized it and learned that if the photos were exposed to air for too long, the digital prints would be ruined. Various shows have talked about this and for that reason, I am careful to retain my SD memory cards, disks and prints, so that I have many forms of backup to depend on.
To my surprise, my Mom gave me my Dad's 35 mm Minolta XG 1 camera. It has a flash attachment and a special lens, but she cannot find any instructions or books that go with it. When I look through the lens there are some black lines that seem to be on the inside of the lens where I can't get to. I wonder if someone would be able to take it apart and clean it. It comes in this fancy leather double case that snaps together. I don't have a lot of things that belonged to my Dad and would love to give his camera a shot. Do any of you have any suggestions?
So it's just the two of us hoping you all take care to backup your precious photos and documents as you never know when things are going to heat up and it could all go up in smoke. Hey, that would be a good name for my laptop...Smokey! hehe!
Tales to Treasure
You're Full of Blarney
is a fiction writing contest designed for the Grand Opening of
The Open Window
Which is being hosted by Kathleen Marie, of
Stranded By The MountainIf you aren't sure what Blarney is, she has provided
a helpful dictionary explanation!
Blarney1796, from Blarney Stone (which is said to make a persuasive
flatterer of any who kiss it), in a castle near Cork, Ireland;
reached wide currency through Lady Blarny,
the smooth-talking flatterer in Goldsmith's
"Vicar of Wakefield" (1766).
Smooth, flattering talk, often nonsensical or deceptive
or misleading talk; nonsense; hooey; baloney such as 'he is full of it'.
Kathleen Marie, of Stranded in the Mountains, is having a "Your Full of Blarney Fine Writing contest". If you are interested in the details you may check out the rules
here.
Just the two of us had a pleasant weekend. Our Son, Terrence invited us to have lunch with he and Jenny, his girlfriend. We had so much fun talking with them about Terry's kittens Maggie, and Autumn, and how playful they are to watch. Terry said he would have to figure out how to keep Maggie from clawing her way up his clothes to end up resting up around his neck. Because now he has little claw marks going all the way up his back! Ouch! lol Jenny, said she brought down her Ferret, Gismo, to play with the kittens. I was a gasp at first, somehow I had thought of a Ferret as being in the hamster/mouse family and couldn't imagine them getting along but they say they do so marvelously and if the cats should claw at the Ferret, he can outrun them.
Saturday, the folks popped over to let me know they had been to a garage sale that had some kitchen chairs. After getting directions, I hopped in the car and took a look the table and chairs were in pretty rough condition but the folks had informed me that the young guy having the sale had come down to $20. So I purposely walked past them as the guy spotted my steady gaze right away in their direction. On my return toward my vehicle I stopped and looked around for the forth chair as I rested my hand on the one. He said he was trying to get $35. I said, "humm". He said, "I'll take $15. I said, "sold"! When my hubby came home later that evening from work, I said, "these are not staying". hehe! These are just a "cheap Taco Bell meal when it comes to price, until I find something I love! I let the guy at the garage sale keep the table. My hubby laughed, and said alright.
So it's just the two of us, happy to have chairs around the kitchen table again and hoping you all take the opportunity to go garage sale shopping, as you just never, know what treasures you may find and what a wonderful tale you may treasure!
Saturday Photo Hunters ~ theme...SOFT
It is fun to participate in the Saturday Photo Hunt that is hosted by
tnchick. This week's photo hunt theme is:
SOFT If you would like to play along click on the link below.
Just The Two of Us
would like to share a photo of our new little baby granddaughter
Arianna Corrine...
who was born on our son Kevin's birthday, Feb 20th.
Renee and Kevin brought her over yesterday
so we could hold her and drink in all her newness again.
Arianna is so soft and cuddly.This photo was taken yesterday at 3 days old!
So it's just the two of us whispering softly in her ear,
amazed at how soft her newborn skin is to our touch.
May a soft breeze always be at your back
as you breath in all that life has to offer!
Friday Favorite Ingredients ~ Apple Crepes
Apple Crepes
Total Ingredients: 9
These are light and decadent,
and easy to make.
You may substitute your
favorite fruit such as
peaches, apricots,
or strawberries.
Ingredients:
1 slice white bread
1 T low fat milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp rum extract
1/4 tsp vanilla
Sweetener to = 2 tsp sugar
Preparation:
Combine bread, milk, egg, extracts, and artificial sweetener in a blender. Blend on medium speed until smooth batter is formed. Pour into a hot non stick pan. Cook until bubbles appear on surface, turn and finish cooking other side. Keep warm. Spread with hot apple filling and roll. Top with a
dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!
1 serving Apple Filling:
1 medium apple peeled, cored and diced.
1 T water
Sweetener to = 4 T sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Combine ingredients in a saucepan. Cover and simmer slowly until apples are soft
Sending out a big *thank you* to
Overwhelmed With Joy for letting me participate in her Favorite Ingredients Friday Super Bowl Sunday Edition recipe exchange that she is hosting. Click on the link to get more great recipes.
If you missed my recipes for:
Funny Cake
click hereBacked Beans
click hereSkewered Shrimp
click hereSwiss Ham Ring Around
click hereCream Puffs
click hereCheesecake
click hereOatmeal Barley Soup
click hereHoliday Recipe Blogger Style/Meringue Wreaths
click here
Iced Pumpkin bars
click hereBanana Pudding
click hereZesty Cheese Asparagus Quiche
click hereDennis and I had so much fun taking little Ben up to my Mom's lake house. He loves the outdoors and so we played peek-a-boo around the trees, chased each other giggling all the way, as his little legs took him running awkwardly through the grass. My Mom and I, sat him between us on the bench swing that looks out toward the lake that just twinkled and appeared to be dancing. He loved swinging and we loved spending the day with my Mom. She was delighted that we came up with him.
When we got home I warmed up the leftover roast beef, potatoes, carrots, onion and celery dinner I had made. He had a ferocious appetite and ate half of my dinner. It makes you feel good when they eat well and seem to be enjoying it. With each bite he took, he had darling little sound effects he would hum and bounce his head to.
Renee's Mom came over and picked up Ben after we visited for about an hour. So, we went up to hospital and spent a couple of hours with Kevin, Renee and their new baby Arianna. They had her dressed up in the brightest little stripped multi-pink colored outfit. They had her picture taken in it and she looked so angelic.
Kevin and Renee brought home baby Arianna late last night. They are all doing wonderful. Little Ben seems to be doing just fine with the addition of his new little sister.
So, it's just the two of us relishing life and breathing in each and every moment, as we try to hold on, so as to capture it all forever! Life is precious, hope you all capture a moment to cherish, as well.
A Precious Little Angel is Born!
We have been riding high as it has been a whirlwind of activities! We told Kevin and Renee that being as th
e hospital called and told Renee she was to be induced in labor at 7:00 a.m., that we would be more than happy to let little Ben sleep over so they wouldn't have to wake him up so early...
What a blessing that turned out to be! Seemed like we no sooner than went to bed when the answering machine came on with Kevin's voice "wake up, wake up, wake up"! I opened one eye and thought that kid...he is never going to cut the jokes, he is absolutely relentless, the gull of him calling at 5:30 in the morning, when they aren't even inducing until
7:00 a.m.
Quickly falling back to sleep, only to tuck in another 5 minutes of blissful sleep, my other eye sprang open, with the realization that "Oh my word, he sounded like he was serious. I jumped out of bed and played the message back only to realize that after the first part of the message, he was saying that Renee was 8 center meters dilated AT 5:30! With a joyful sudden awareness, it dawned on me that Renee had gone into labor naturally sometime in the middle of the night! They didn't have to induce her after all!
Gently, I leaned over the pack n' play and sang Ben awake, he first stretched his little arms and legs out and then his sweet pink little lips curled up in a sweet smile, he quickly lifted his arms up and out toward me and I gingerly swooped him up into my arms. It was hard to imagine any child bringing as much joy and love into our lives, and yet, as the seconds ticked by, his little baby sister was being born.
We were on our way to the hospital, forgetting that we would be smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic at 7:30 a.m., the beauty of the sunshine mixed with our rapidly rising adrenaline and excitement of witnessing yet, another miracle being born seem to somehow guide us in, as if time just stood still in anticipation.
So here is how it all unfolded, Renee and Kevin arrived at hospital at approximately 3:00 a.m., wondering and I emphasize, "wondering" if she was in lab
or! Renee was not only in labor, but was dilated 8 center meters. They barely had time to get her prepped, when three pushes later, their beautiful baby girl, Arianna was born. weighing in at 8 Lbs 2 oz., and measuring 20 1/2 inches. Renee looked wonderful and was exhausted. She just radiated love and admiration as she held her daughter. She was thrilled that Arianna quickly had taken to nursing and had already found her index fingers to suckle after only being in the word for less than 1 hour! Kevin was beaming with joy!
We were all astounded at the full dark curly head of hair she was born with. Big beautiful eyes, and a cute little button nose.
All I ask, is that you check out little Ben's expression as he looks at his little new born sister, Arianna for the first time!
...Renee and Kevin, you have a gorgeous sweet blessed family! We are so proud of you both! Renee, you did good! :) Thank you so very much for including us and letting us be an active part of your sweet, precious family! May God continue to cradle your young family with love and blessings beyond rapture!
For just the two of us, it was love at first sight! A precious little angel was born! God be willing, may you too, be blessed to experience the miracle of birth and the intense sweet "love at first sight" you feel, penetrate through your heart and soul when holding your child or grandchild for the first time.
course!
HM!
Feel up to a little Limbo? How low can you go! lol
I hear they are mixing up a mean Mai Tai over at the Tiki Hut, of course Dennis and I don't drink but we want our guest to enjoy themselves!
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Photo Hunters is hosted by TNchick and if you would like to play click on the button on my sidebar.
Nothing like a beach sunset for atmosphere!
We have Valet service that will gladly take you back to your beach condos!
