April Fool’s 2022

[pics incl] I’ve slacked the past several years but April Fool’s is one of my favorites. Jeff is out of town but I happened to be up at 5 am so I took that opportunity to pull off an oldie but a goodie…. I put scotch tape on the sprayer handle to the kitchen sink 😂

Claudia has been up making middle of the night flan, and when she returned to the kitchen to clean up her baking supplies…. I only feel a little bad because the fact she made middle of the night flan was pretty much a practical joke… we couldn’t eat it until it cooled for hours!

William happened to be in the kitchen area when Ashley was making biscuits… and tried to clean up her mess. Jeff txtd that birds poo’d all over his car at the airport. She was attempting to do this before Jeff got home from the airport. William escaped to the basement with Danny while she was ranting.

She never got around to actually BAKING the biscuits. She decided to get even for the water by stealing all the forks and spoons.

William said he drank his cereal 😂 He decided to get even by getting Danny to help steal all her books… her collector’s editions books.

When Jeff got home he had to spend some time cleaning off his car, came into the kitchen to wash up and got soaked. Then, he decided since it was lunch time-ish, to reheat some leftovers…. but when he opened the drawer there was no silverware. He just left and went to Wendy’s. He told me later he had been on the phone during all that and his coworker laughed “about the kids’ pranks” but Jeff said “nope, I’d bet money that my wife started this.”

As usual, somewhere in here this started a txt thread that contained several conversations… trying to figure out biscuits, trying to figure out dinner, the April Fool’s pranks & of course, after all that… needing pie (or flan)!… AND A FORK!😂

Today is a day of remembrance too… It’s been a year since my Uncle Rick passed away. I’d like to think he’d smirk at my prank that had domino affects!

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Homemade Meals This Week

[pics incl] Several months ago, Jeff challenged the kids to see who could use the most ingredients of some of our fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s grown from there with everyone having a night that they have become responsible for dinner, including helping plan shopping etc. However, some of their friends have jumped on board as they are often here for game night.

Courtney has just about mastered the parmesan pork we had at Fogo de Chao several weeks ago and she often wins the “using the most items.”

Ashley has done some amazing crock pot meals including green chili and some little hand pie things made of potato! They sometimes have to get creative if this weeks vegetable delivery includes things like eggplant😉

Even Claudia has decided to start learning. This is her first attempt at flan.

This week William decided to smoke a brisket, starting the night beforehand and letting it slow smoke cook for about 18 hours.

Danny was planning to be here for game night and decided to spend the day making twice baked potatoes. He had to make a batch for his family too because it would have just been mean to leave the house with ALL of them😉

Later his brother Declan came over and the 8 of us played a TV game on jackbox (you play on the tv with your phones, great for groups!) before they all went to play board games. Maybe if I get enough of their friends over here cooking, I can take my name off the weekly “you have to cook” list?!😂

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Code Ninja Sensei

[pics incl] William started a part-time job that works great with his college classes. Part of his duties will include teaching kids (7-14) how to code.

Assuming his classes remain on schedule, he’s on track to graduate with a bachelor’s in Cyber Security in 2023. (He completed his associates in Cyber Security).

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Snow 03/17/22

[pics incl] We’ve has several inches of snow (8-10?”) since yesterday.

THANK YOU William & Courtney for clearing the driveway & walkway!

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Waylon Jennings RV Park in Littlefield, TX

[pics incl] We didn’t feel like we could make it to our planned stop for the evening and decided to stop sooner. Fortunately, we’ve been using an app (or two) to help us find overnight RV destinations. We have found that often small towns have city parks that allow for free first come (or very inexpensive/donations) overnight RV parking and many even offer free electric, water & septic (some at the sites, others offer communal water/septic).

Tonight’s destination is known for Waylon Jennings hometown hero who also threw out the first horseshoe pitch here. 😉

We realized after deciding to stop, that I have a cousin that lives nearby…. ooops, sorry we didn’t even realize we were driving that close and I think we literally drove past her house…… I did leave a message and wave 😉. but she’s out of town.

I’ll try to remember this place for next time!

[NOTE UPDATE: we fought high winds the entire way home which killed our gas mileage. We made it home about 7:30pm 03/14/22]

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Happy Birthday Geneva

[pics incl] We decided to wait out some bad weather that was up north by waiting in San Antonio. Coincidentally, it happened to be my cousin Geneva’s birthday 😁 and she lives in San Antonio.

I’m mostly over my cold now. We met up for a walk on the Riverwalk and dinner at The Tasting Room at Maverick Whiskey.

Now Jeff wants a brand for his ice!

We walked over to The Esquire for dessert.

I think they said The Esquire is the oldest bar on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

We enjoyed our visit!

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A Little Humor

[pics incl] Jeff txtd me a comic this afternoon and I couldn’t resist staring a group chat with my parents & sisters…

earlier today, I was at the store (in TX) and found “space flavored” Coke on display?

A few days ago, my cousin Greg txtd me

Last week, Karen & I went for a walk….

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Pause in Visits Due to a Cold

Welllll…. after our visit at Manon’s, I thought I was having allergies but apparently I have a cold from a toddler🤷‍♀️. I’ve already been around my parents and Manon and hopefully they will remain well. We are scratching visits with others until I’m feeling better. Sorry if I’ve missed you this trip! We’ve left Alvin and will be at Lake Texana a few days before heading home. (Possibly thru San Antonio area but not sure.)

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Snugglin’ with Manon

[pics incl]. Tonight’s calendar was one of the standing game nights, so my parents & I had dinner with Manon Poole, then we went back to her house to visit. This was my first time seeing her since Ed passed in Aug 2021. He sure was missed and we celebrated remembering great times tonight. [NOTE: My parents and our family, came barreling into the Poole’s life about 40 years ago, when my dad started coaching soccer with Ed. However, some of ya’ll have actually known them longer!]

We ordered extra food to go and Jeff joined us a little later. We laughed as she stunned him by turning the tables and reciting stories of HIM and HIS friends! Ya’ll are in sooo much trouble😂😂

It’s not everyday that someone is just as cold as I am. It’s78 but she promptly turned on the fireplace 😉. After a while, mom and Jeff melted, she relented and turned off the fireplace, turned on AC & got us a blankie! (I had already put on a jacket!)

We had a wonderful time with our dear friend. [NOTE: Jeff and I were married at the Country Kingdom, then owned by the Poole’s.] She also remembers a lot of YA’LL! If you lived in Newport in early 70’s, regardless of your age,… your names were probably discussed.

… so if you know her…. holler! Odds are that you’re ears are burning and if not, we need to fix that!

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Would You Like Anchovies w/ That

[pics incl] Last week, Jeff fixed Caesar salad with dinner. He, Scotty & Jacque ganged up and ate anchovies (YES… as you are supposed to). Alright, not exactly… we were at the store and his standard “you know it’s not a TRUE Caesar salad without anchovy” conversation was occurring… fine…”go see if they have a can.” “but where?” …. “why would I know? go try by the tuna?”

Flash forward to today at lunch. We met my parents and Andrea, Hayley & a friend at an Italian place in Friendswood. Jeff ordered a pizza. Without skipping a beat, Andrea looks at him and questions “aren’t you going to get anchovies?” [she didn’t know about last week… she just KNOWS Jeff]. A whole “see SHE lets me get anchovies” moment was happening and without skipping a beat, she hollered “Of course I love you best… I ZERBERT THEE!” (only she didn’t REALLY zerbert him.)

I missed the candid and made them pose. Not to miss an opportunity, she REALLY zerbert him!

(I guess I don’t get credit for last week cuz eating anchovies wasn’t MY idea… I just knew where to look 😂🤷‍♀️)

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Plan to be in Alvin/Fwd and Edna Areas

We plan to be in there Alvin/Friendswood area 02/25-03/05 … ish. nothing set in stone.

Then maybe head towards Lake Texana, Edna 03/05 or 03/06 ish… We have our RV and might stay at the lake a few days.

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SFA Swingin Axes Jazz Band

[pics incl]. Scotty & Jacque are sponsors of the Piney Woods Fine Arts Association in Crockett, TX. Tonight there was a performance by the Stephen F. Austin State University “Swingin’ Axes” Jazz Band. They were able to get us tickets. (Thank you Amy Cutshaw!)

Unfortunately, my head is still so hyper-sensitive to sound. I was able to stay for about 40 min before my head decided it was time to leave. However, we all went to dinner beforehand with their friend Crystal (sp?) and she was gracious enough to take a group photo before the music started. THANK YOU!

There are several great upcoming performances: Grand Funk Railroad, Celtic Angels & Mark Chesnutt. If you feel like a road trip check out the website: http://www.pwfaa.org

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Grapeland Cafe and RV Park

[pics incl] We abruptly decided to leave the cold and head south. We weren’t sure whether or RV has freeze damage because it was only partially winterized. We had blown out the water because we thought we were taking it out… then we all got sick… then we left for BVI. We decided we could figure it out on the road 😉

We arrived in Grapeland Monday morning to a new little RV park behind the Grapeland Cafe. She also has a lunch buffet during the week and breakfast buffet on weekends. Closed on Mondays & evenings. I may not have exact info but it’s a great place!

We happened to run into Anthony & Ashley returning to Houston from a wedding.

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Celebrating Heather at Fogo de Chão

[pics incl] Tonight we celebrated Heather at a Brazilian Steak House (her choice). If you will recall, I’ve mentioned that our Christmas and New Years was interrupted due to Covid and then we left on Jan 14th. Ashley’s 25th birthday was the 14th and Heather’s 29th on 15th. Basically we’ve neglected her 😉. This week she received a promotion at work and tonight was all about “Celebrating Heather.”

The restaurant is one where they bring around different types of meats on a giant skewer, prepared in various manners. Of course, some of the selections included steaks, but also lamb, chicken and pork. In order to determine if you would like to be served, there are coasters on the table, one side says “yes please” and the other “no thanks”. There is also a large salad bar. [I’ve been to a place like this before where they used flags you raise or lower to indicate you’d like more.]

We all tried a bit of each type and compared our opinions. I think everyone had different overall favorite winners but some of the top contenders for overall also included the lamb and the Parmesan pork.

Jeff also ordered two different kinds of waygu that were cooked on Himalayan salt blocks. The salt block is HOT so the meat continues to cook allowing for different preferences of doneness.

We ordered some desserts to share but she received her very own, courtesy of the restaurant. She requested flan. I guess I forgot to take photos of the key lime pie and chocolate cake.

…of course, it’s not a family dinner unless Heather spills her drink! Fortunately, her glass of water was empty already!

As we were leaving, everyone said I needed to be in a picture. But then we all put on our coats & hats to leave. Jeff said he’d quickly snap one.

We had him redo it

I’ve had to crop them both because… thumbs 😂

One of the hostesses came to the rescue. We all should have took off hats & coats again but we got a group photo!

Because we all have our coats on again, you can’t see the prank we tried to pull on her. Most of us… are wearing matching shirts with a partner. (Ashley didn’t get the memo right😉 so her partner in crime isn’t matching anyone either).

Congrats Heather & happy birthday. We all love you!

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Cat Yoga

[pics incl] 02/14/22 Cat Yoga

I figure if people can have goat Yoga, I can have Cat Yoga 😉. After I took the selfie, Peanut climbed up on my shoulder to help.

So, he helped me txt my sisters. The next day, he came to my doorway and hollered and ran around. We finally decided, he was wanting his workout mat! 😂

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