Donovan's Birthday

It's hard to believe that we now have a teenager! We celebrated Donovan's birthday last night... we started by dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, where we saw his teenage boy appetite in action - he ate an entire steam pot (1 whole crab, some shrimp, corn on the cob, baby potatoes, and a sausage)! It was quite impressive. :)

Opening presents - cards from grandparents...

One of the presents Josh and I gave him his "man kit", complete with leather travel bag and all the necessities (body wash, deodorant, toothbrush, etc...)

Once we explained that it was because he's becoming a man, and these things will help him, he finally smiled about it. :)

Happy birthday, Donovan!

Commencement

Today was Commencement for Stevens-Henager College. Some of the graduates were students I helped get into school, and they all thanked me for helping them; one actually brought me a card and a present! Another told me that if I hadn't helped him he wouldn't have gone to college. Ah, that's why I do what I do... regardless of how frustrated I get with my job, I know that I am in a position to positively affect people's lives. That is an incredibly rewarding feeling.


I am so proud of the graduates, who worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and finished what they started.


It's been a really wonderful day.

Mother's Day Weekend

This was the first Mother's Day in five years that the kids were able to be with us. :) SO - we made the most of it!

Audri really wanted to help me cook. So, after grocery shopping, we made fruit salad, potato salad, pasta salad, guacamole, and then finger steaks and brownies. It was for two different meals; Saturday night was finger steaks, french fries, and fruit salad, followed by . Sunday we grilled hamburgers and had corn on the cob, pasta salad, potato salad, and grilled pineapple.

Audri, learning to bread something for frying; we cut the steaks into strips, coated them in the breading, dipped them in egg, then re-coated in the breading before deep frying.

It was a great experience, and she said she wanted to help more often! She helped with breakfast Sunday morning, and made the biscuits for our biscuits and sausage gravy. :) She's a great sous chef!

Sunday was such a beautiful day, so we went for a walk.

A quick family photo while out on our walk... the kids are getting so tall!!!

We had Brent and Angie over for dessert Sunday evening; I was showing Angie how to create a blog, while holding her son, William.

What a fabulous weekend! :) And one filled with food... that's what we do! :)

Doughnut Holes

When I got home last night, Taylor wanted to make something for his class this morning... it was the final, but they were also celebrating two birthdays. So, we made doughnut holes! They really are easy, and other than the chilling process (1-2 hours!) they are not that time consuming... we made over 100 doughnut holes, and rolled them in powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar. So yummy!

Luckily, there were enough left over after Taylor's class that I was able to bring them to work. I'm the hero of the day! :) It's fun to spend an evening baking and creating scrumptious treats for others - thanks for making me smile, bubba! :)

Chicken Fingers and French Fries

We love our deep fryer. I know, it's really not that healthy. And because of that, we don't actually use it all that often. However, a couple of weeks ago I decided I really wanted some chicken strips, so I made some... and of course, if you're going to deep fry chicken, you should add a potato, too. :)

I mentioned to my friend Angie that I had made chicken fingers and french fries, and she wanted some too! So, tonight we went to Angie's for dinner, and I took the deep fryer. :) We had chicken fingers and french fries, and she made maple scones. Oh my goodness! It was one delicious meal! And a great evening with wonderful friends. I have to admit it felt slightly silly to be making chicken strips and french fries for four adults, though!

Maybe we'll think about eating healthier tomorrow...