Just 'cause it's Rainin'...

... and wet; it doesn't mean that you have to mope around! No, there are still a lot to do!

For example... You can go to your local "haunts" like a fave bookstore (Half Price Books) and read a book or two while waiting for the rain to stop. If it persists, you can go to your local pet store (Petland) and...
hold a cute miniature Pinscher, or play "hide and seek" (the shoelace) with a playful and seemingly hungry (for anything) English Bulldog.
If it's still restless, you can feed it your daughter's flip-flop! ;-)
Then you can wander off to the birdie section and help them get used to "hoo-mans"...
or even just watch them show off! "Good bird, Indy! Thank you..."
How about catching birds? It's a good arm exercise! You should try it! LOL
Of course, no reputable pet store can stay in business without fish! Or a curious turtle for that matter. "Oooh... pretty girl! What's your name?"
Why not try using the variety of fish tanks as a photoshoot background? Of course, you'd have to work with the harsh lighting...
Finally, you can actually look into the aquariums and see what's actually in it!
"Look, koi and turtles! I want one!"
There's the other turtle, admiring itself in the glass. Who said, only "hoo-mans" are vain? ;-)
One knows that if you went to a bookstore and a library, you can't help but be inspired to read (and smile for the camera of course!)
Or play a new and so fun of a card game called...
It's so fun that you say, "Add to the Christmas list, please!" (I'm serious! It's fun!)
Of course, with any card game, each player has a face. A confident ,"I'm gonna win" face,

or the "don't show my game face" face. All while watching the rain!

With all that rain, we wanted something hearty so I made Asian dishes. This is "Ponzu Shrimp with Enoki mushrooms and Bokchoy cabbage." My own recipe. Yummy!
And the authentic "Beef Broccoli", not the kind you get from Panda Express! Their broccoli's too raw for my taste and too salty. This dish should be light and easy to eat and a little sweet.
If you're lucky enough to have Wii, you can play a couple rounds of bowling, tennis, baseball and boxing, while choosing another game to play as a family. We chose Horse-o-poly where you buy horses and training while you build your fortune!

You all know how daunting and endless Monopoly games are, so in between, we enjoyed a bowl of "Cookies and Cream" ice cream each!

To end the day, after the kiddos go to bed, you can even WALK IN THE RAIN! With a buddy of course! Michelle and I did and it felt great! It was lightly drizzling, and we only walked a good one mile, but wow! The night sounds, sights were quite invigorating!

There you are, several great tips to pass the time when rain dampens the plans. If you are flexible, any plan is a great plan!

Happy Monday!

FHE: A Full Day Out!

Since Mr. Man and L-Infinity are both home, we took advantage of the beautiful day and took the rest of the day to do Family Home Evening!

The kiddos had a simple breakfast of cereal, and we all finished our chores. But for lunch, we treated them to...

That restaurant combo of Long John Silvers & Taco Bell! J-Pony ordered something from LJS and the rest of us, enjoyed some Taco Bell delish! Cost, $19.00 ($10 less than we normally spend)

Then we surprised them by stopping by at Petland, the pet store that allows petting of each animal except for fish, literally! Here's L enjoying the company of a guinea pig... Cost, FREE.That came from this cage..
The next stop was to watch some stinky ferrets sleep it off. Mr. Man and L had a hoot picking up several of them, looking like jello blobs and would barely wake up. The moment you put them down, they curl back up into a sleeping position. LOL
I wanted to take home the parakeet on the bottom of that green and yellow one. I actually got to hold it but it kept flying down. I think that green one is his lady friend. So cute!
But I was able to pull away enough to enjoy some of these brightly plumed parrots. The red and purple one almost didn't want me to leave, it wouldn't get off my arm! There are four of them in this unit and the gray one is too shy, but the colorful baby one and these two are very comfortable going up to anyone's arm.

I also got to snuggle with the red/purple one; it even nipped on L-Infinity and locked on her finger for about 10 seconds because it was so comfy! I had to nudge it rather hard to shock it into letting go. L said, "Mommy, this one doesn't like me, you must smell more bird-like than I do." (Is that good?) ;-)
Here's Mr. Man with a Boston Terrier. That smile is of pure giddiness, trust me. He wants a pug himself...

While the kids and I want a Husky. This is a snow white American Husky. They don't shed as bad as the Alaskan breed I heard. Looook at that faaaace...Of course there's no way that we could've left without checking out the bunnies! Look how darling! Awww... There was an albino one with red eyes and pink inside ears, and Mr. Man labeled it, the most "Easter" bunny like of all. LOL

After, we sneaked into Half Price Books to see their current selection and to use the restroom. J and me, we had to wait unti Mr. Man and I-Dude had to come out since there are about 4 girl employees who decided that the best time to hang a picture above the toilet, is during the busiest time of their business day. I was rather annoyed and declared to Mr. Man that we needed to use the Men's because "they are playing around in the Women's bathroom." Cost, FREE.

Then on to the freeway across Dallas and into...
Into Mesquite, Texas! Why travel for almost an hour? Because The Merry Berry Farms, have the only...
... organic and "oh so" juicy blackberries up here in north Texas! That's why! Here are the kiddos starting the picking. See all the weeds, it's from the lack of any "outside" help. Just grown with careful planning, sun, irrigation and the occasional rain from the storms in the Spring time.

We were there last year, too with a family friend, Michelle, who visited us from AZ. The berry patches are situated in just a couple of acres in between the owner's home and since he's been a farmer for 30 years, his choice was a good one. We're talking you can taste test from the bush! That's the best kind, especially when you're with curious children who eats with their eyes like mine do! The picking experience is something that they love. We all want a small edible garden when we get our own house someday.
After that photo-op, the girls got bit by ants so we had to cross over to the other patch. This is the gravel driveway to the owner's house. Here they are at the other patch... Less bugs and not much ants. Thank goodness! Mr. Man and I dove into the middle of the thorny bushes carefully to get the huge, plump ones! LOL, you'd know where I was everytime, I was the one that kept yelling, "Ouch!", "Ow!" or "Ow, ow, ow!"
After an hour later, here we are drinking some cool water. I was the photographer the whole time, so my mug's not available. It's better that way. ;-)

Here are SOME of the berries... They are sweet, juicy and delicious! There are already requests for muffins, smoothies and shakes. Tomorrow is sure to be a yummy day! We actually have enough for two weeks worth of recipes. Cost, $20.00.Before we paid for the berries, we noticed the owner's chickens with the sole rooster "picking out" his next "hen". It was rather an impromptu lesson on nature's wild side- farm edition! LOL (The rooster's white...)

We promised ice cream and what a better place than Braum's Ice Cream Store and Restaurant! My German Chocolate Double Dip was worth every lick! L-Infinity had to hold it for me so I can take their happy mugs over their "cool" treats... ;-) Cost, $8.16.

What a wonderful, and again, inexpensive day we had. I look forward to tomorrow! Love my fam! Our FHE Lesson, "You don't need a lot of money to have a great day."

Total Cost: $47.16 for a whole day of fun and togetherness! Can't beat that!

What a Day!

First off, we thought my dental appointment was at 9AM; it was a brutal waking up moment as I didn't fall asleep until 5AM, woke up at 6:25 to wake up the kids. Good thing, Mr. Man took over from there. He made sure they ate, I-Dude got his morning treatment (4x/day now) and kept me barely asleep for the aforementioned false dental appointment. (Why I thought 9 in the AM, I have no idea!)

I guess I must have been hoping it's later cause next thing I know, I was dialing their office and asking for my appointment time. I got, "2 o'clock." I relayed it to Mr. Man, we both grunted, "oh" and went back to bed. Woke up on my own at 11AM (woohoo, 6 whole hours of shut-eye!)

We ate and got ready. I answered comments on my blog and flossed, brushed my teeth and gargled some Listerine (the one that stings like crazy, yeah, that one! Woke me up!) Off we went into the van- not quite. (Of course things don't go that smoothly when you're in a hurry- I forgot to mention that we got out the door at 1:50, the dentist is exactly 10 minutes away)

Annette, our lovely neighbor alerted us to something shiny on our rear right wheel. What was it? It was a tiny spring, probably from a clipboard, embedded onto the sidewall, deep enough to add Costco to our list of errands. But before that, J-Pony calls and reminds us that we need to pick her up because she forgot that today was her Choir Party.

Sidenote: J-Pony's choir group won 1st Place in the UIL competition held at an amusement park and the party was their reward. That trophy that was displayed during the last PTA meeting. was huge and pur-dy!

Good thing, we get to my dentist at exactly 2PM, how we did that, I'll never know, and I'll never question. Needless to say, I had no time to peruse the magazines, though a copy of "Southern Living" caught my eye.

Once on the chair, she proceeded to ask me questions and question why I didn't show up for 10 months (my bad...) I did tell her that I've been taking care of my mouth and teeth more. As a professional who's most likely heard it all proceeds to agree and then show me how horrible my last check up was. (Oh, don't squirm there as if you didn't have some funky dental results... At least I'm being honest. Hee hee!)

Did it faze me, no! I think if anything, it helped me calm down. I was utterly fascinated with what I was seeing- a separated and lined up rendition of my teeth, numbered and coded. She starts to tell me what I needed to have done after she checks out my "pockets". From my chart, I can assure you that I should have been a wreck, freaking out about the impending drilling sounds that can penetrate skulls and weaken ear drums. But I wasn't... I was surprisingly... OK.

I'll spare you the awful sound effects though I know you're just dying to ask me how each sound made my visit that much more memorable... I'd tell you instead how before that, during my "pocket" check, my hygienist was utterly surprised how much my gums and teeth strenght improved!

And to be honest, I was, too! LOL

She told me that I should get a gift since in her whole career (she's much older than I am), she has never seen any patient's mouth improve on their own! As L-Infinity would say, "that's legit!" So now, this new sense of confidence literally helped me float on that chair and was able to endure the whole cleaning. Oh, just before she started, she asked me, "Have you considered braces?" to which I quickly replied with an almost annoyed lifting of one eyebrow, "No dentist has ever recommended it for me." As if to prove me wrong, she asked me to bite down and again, she was again surprisingly pleased that my "bite" is as it should be. Her exact words were, "you have a good bite. That's very, very good." Another floating moment, woo-hoo!

After the cleaning, the dentist came in and they talked about my improvements. He did his own poking, on only two teeth and said that I'm the most inexpensive patient he's got!

They offer FREE whitening kits, but when he checked my teeth shade, he said, I most likely don't need it. He showed me his shades chart, and the highlighted one, his preferred shade for a healthy teeth color, was already my shade and he's concerned that if I go any whiter, my teeth may become sensitive! How cool of a check up is that, huh? Sign me up again please!

The best part, the magazine I wanted to read was still there, found a great shrimp and crab cake recipe. When I asked if I could copy the recipes, the lady in charge said, "Just take it, it's an old copy. You can have it." (cha-ching!)

Ok, after Mr. Man picked up I-Dude from school, they picked me up, rounded back to the elementary school to grab J, then on to the highschool for L. We went to the Costco near the high school and since we have absolutely no room in our fridge, freezer or pantry, we had nothing to buy at Costco (plus I stock up only twice a year so not even a inkling for an impulse buy either. Have you ever been to Costco with nothing to buy, it is the most boring thing! I didn't even enjoy seeing new products being handed out as samples! Boh-rring!). We did manage to remember to grab some mangoes (we've been craving those) and Q-tips (ran out...)

As for the tire, it was just beyond the repair zone so it had to be replaced for the amazing price of $1.08! Yep, it was under the Costco warranty, so we paid the difference in price. Gotta love that!
When we got home, we discovered that our plants are dying and our garden nozzle is bad (I conceded after I couldn't figure out how to NOT keep getting showered, lol), so that was replaced by another, (but less broken,) long nozzle. (We got it at Albertson's several years ago for $1 during their Going Out Of Business Sale.)

Whew, I'm tired reliving all of this today. How was your Monday?

FHE: Baking Together

We didn't have much time to spare all day as we are cleaning up for our trip this weekend so today for Family Home Evening, we baked together our own dessert!

Yes, I still have a lot of opened flour packets; a few more days of baking I guess. ;-)

We discussed why baking together is good for our family and overall, "a good thing".

***We learn to serve each other
***We appreciate each other more
***We learn to serve others
***We learn new skills
***We learn to let others help us
***We learn to be more flexible
***We learn from each other

***We also learned that baking together means being together which means serving each other therefore serving God.

Mosiah 2:17 (Book of Mormon)
"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Cooking With Your Kids blog:
"You don't have to be Martha Stewart to share fun experiences with your kids that yield delicious results."

Food Network:
"As soon as you preheat your oven and get out the butter and sugar, your kids know they're in for a treat. But if you enlist their help the next time you're in the mood to bake, they'll have as much fun mixing ingredients as they do munching on the sweet results — and so will you!"

This is what we baked together:


Berry Biscuit Tart
1 1/2 cups Clabber Baking mix

1 cup of milk

1/2 cup sugar

6 strawberries diced

Blackberries

Strawberries

1 tsp sugar

egg white


Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Sift flour and sugar

Make a dibit and pour in milk

Slowly mix in diced strawberries and dough until it looks well blended and close to biscuit batter consistency

Put in shallow flat pan or a tart pan

Line top with sliced strawberries and blackberries

Mix some water with egg white and brush berries with it

Sprinkle 1 tsp sugar on the top of tart

Bake for 10 minutes or until top is golden brown


Serve with Great Divide ice cream. Yum!

How was your Monday night?

FHE: NHS Induction Night & TAKS

Tonight, we celebrated for two main reasons: L-Infinity's NHS Induction Night and J-Pony's TAKS testing.

When our children have something to celebrate or testing the next day, the Filipino in me comes out full force and the table ends up groaning from all the food requests and menu tweaking! I take dinner requests and find food items to surprise them with to make dinner more fun! It's my way of making sure they get the proper nutrition and be full enough to get a good night's rest! No sodas or junk food on testing times! ;-)

So here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

First, we dined on Shrimp with Snowpeas in White Sauce over Rice (homemade or bought?)



Then, they enjoyed a melon salad mix and this Steamed Cheese Cake Bars with diced strawberries. These yummy pastries is one of the desserts at Ono's Hawaiian BBQ in Gilbert, AZ, made in Japan.

These were made in and imported from Tokyo, Japan distributed via California!
These strawberries were freshly put out on display when we got to our fave Asian market. The containers were still cold! We grabbed two and washed them well before enjoying them with this delectable treat. It's soft and sticky but oh so yummy!


We also dined on Filipino Tocino (sweet cured meat) and oranges, bananas, apples and refreshing ice water!

Here's the podium dressed for the NHS ceremony in the auditorium. Each candle represents the attributes that NHS stands for- Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Character.


Here's the principal, Mr. Jones. Apparently, he ends up winging his speeches every year because the prior speeches by the officers end up covering what he wants to say! ;-)


My favorite part of the ceremony was when the Principal reversed the standards of NHS: Scholarship, Leadership, Service & Character to Character first because if you have character you will have the tendency to do right by people thru Service. When you serve others, Leadership follows. And when Leadership becomes part of your character thru service, Scholarship is the resulting factor since Leadership begets experience and skills leading to knowledge and intelligence. Pretty good summation of what I've always tried to instill in my children. I'm glad we went!


There's L-Infinity walking with the other inductees! The officers noted how quickly everyone got up and took their certificate. LOL. I was wondering why L was almost down the steps on the other end by the time they called her name!


Here's L-Infinity with her NHS certificate! Yay, L!!! Congratulations!


And here she is with her two church ward and school friends who were inducted last year.
Each year, to support the inductees, the members are asked to attend. What a great way to support friends!


Here she is with her guy, Daniel. I can't believe it's been three months!


And the kiddos with Mr. Man after eating slices of NHS cake and punch! I'm surprised they weren't that wired by the time we got home! Two desserts in one night! YIKES!

So goes another busy Monday and improvised FHE, but at least we had one! It was about celebrating each other's acccomplishments!

HOW WAS YOUR MONDAY?

FHE: Our Home is Our Sanctuary

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday. I can honestly say that we did. I'll have to catch you up on it on another post.

I am quite humbled that we remembered to do Family Home Evening again. We focused on being a family, being in our home and how we can keep it safe and more spiritually and physically clean.

I'm the first one to admit that we have a lot to work on when it comes to figuring out what we're going to do with the extra stuff still sitting in boxes that we love and use, just can't store anywhere, we are at a loss. We can't afford pretty containers, bigger storage or get a house, so for now, we get creative.

But our home, since Mr. Man and I were still dating, was to be a home of happy memories, kindness and love. But more than anything, we wanted a home that our children would love to be in. And so far, it is. I stumbled upon the late President Gordon B. Hinckley's conference talk on October 2002 General Conference featured in the Liahona in November 2002. He said:

"If we fail in our homes, we fail in our lives. No man is truly successful who has failed in his home. I ask you men, particularly, to pause and take stock of yourselves as husbands and fathers and heads of households. Pray for guidance, for help, for direction, and then follow the whisperings of the Spirit to guide you in the most serious of all responsibilities, for the consequences of your leadership in your home will be eternal and everlasting." (LDS.org)

We applied that statement to each of us, not just for Mr. Man. We all have a part in making our home successful and more of a sanctuary. We talked of the good things about our family and how our standards are set for our own spiritual safety.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World stands as our compass to keep improving our family life. We have it in our dining room as it is our gathering place.

Mr. Man and I made the sacrifice that I would stay home so that our children will feel safe and welcome in our home. We encourage people to come over but we do not allow bad language or inappropriate subjects in our home. We taught them tonight that protecting our home is a group effort and we need everyone to maintain the loving standards we enjoy.

When you come in our home, the first thing you see is the picture of our Savior Jesus Christ, similar to the picture at the top of this post. We never needed to explain why to those who come in our home why we chose Him to be who greets them at the front door. He is whom we chose to serve and emulate each day and though we are not perfect at it, we want others to know of WHO reigns in our home...