Day One Hundred Forty-Three: Lighting a Match to Ring in the New Year

When I first met Jeff, he talked about how his family rang in the New Year (if they were awake) by lighting matches. I had never heard of this tradition and somehow it never got incorporated into our married life. Finally, almost 20 years in, gathered with the rest of the Watts, I participated in the match lighting. It was such a blessing to ring in the New Year surrounded by family. I can't wait to see what 2018 brings!

Happy New Year!

Day One Hundred Forty-Two: Alone Adventure in SPI

I went out for a walk today, but not along the beach like I normally would and not with any of the rest if the family, as they were all tied up with other things. It was nice to get out and move my body and to explore the more commercial side of South Padre Island.

All the sidewalks have the city's logo stamped on them

I saw many beautiful flowers and plants.

I love sand sculptures!

Another cool sand sculpture on the Sand Castle Trail

Day One Hundred Forty-One: Meatloaf with Cocktail Sauce

Tonight for dinner we had meatloaf. But our pre-dinner appetizer was raw oysters with homemade cocktail sauce. Cocktail sauce is one of my favorite sauces, so I was inspired to try something new: meatloaf smothered in cocktail sauce. It sounds pretty weird, but I thought it was great!

Last bite

Day One Hundred Forty: Custom Toe Ring Shop

The ladies in our group had a little field trip to Karen's Custom Toe Ring and Anklet Shop today, which was definitely a new experience for me. I did not acquire any new jewelry, mostly because pretty much everything in the store was out of my budget. But I was intrigued by such a niche business and the process of trying on toe rings to find the perfect fit.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Nine: A Beach Drive

We decided to take our Honda Pilot on its first beach drive today, trying out some of the features of the vehicle we haven't had a chance to explore, like "sand mode" and "mud mode." As we were driving along and being very proud of our little SUV for not getting stuck, we realized with a shock and element of sadness that this is the first vehicle we've owned in our married life we haven't named. We will have to see if we can remedy that.

The (unnamed) Pilot's first drive on the beach

The vehicle in front of us had some really cute passengers!

Day One Hundred Thirty-Eight: Wooden Salad Servers from Cuba

I have a collection of wooden utensils that have come from all over the world. And tonight my in-laws helped make the collection a little larger by gifting me a beautiful pair of salad servers from Cuba, a country not yet represented in my display. I'm so grateful for the gift and can't wait to find a place for these utensils among the others.

Wooden salad servers from Cuba

Day One Hundred Thirty-Seven: Casa Aloha

We arrived in South Padre this afternoon, where we will spend the week with extended family. Our house is called Casa Aloha and is so cute and quite large. We are excited to be here and look forward to all the fun this week is sure to bring!

The South Padre Bridge

Casa Aloha

Our home for the week

Enticing backyard

Day One Hundred Thirty-Six: Club Level Me Time

Tonight, we are staying in the Sheraton Gunter Hotel, which is our hotel of choice in San Antonio because we can stay here on points and because it's a very cool, older hotel with lots of charm. When everyone else was ready to fall into bed, I was not, so I took myself down to the club level for a cup of coffee and some alone time. I have been in the club before but never for an alone date. It was nice.

Here's to Me Time!

Day One Hundred Thirty-Five: Chicken Poop

My mother, who raised two girls and who has never been a fan of body humor, gave my boys lip balm called Chicken Poop because she thought it would be funny. It made me wonder if it actually was my mom. I was kind of grossed out by the name, but I decided to try the product anyway, which doesn't have any poop in it and is actually full of wonderful things like essential oils, and I really liked it.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Four: New Side Dishes

When I arrived at my grandmother's house this evening, my mom put me to work helping with the meal prep for our big family gathering tomorrow. I got to try my hand at a couple of new-to-me recipes, which included a baked potato salad recipe and a broccoli slaw recipe. The slaw contained dry Ramen noodles, and I truly don't think I've touched a package of those since my more frugal, less healthy college days. It was good to work alongside my mom to prepare food for the family, and I'm glad I got a couple of Firsts out of it too.

Broccoli Slaw with Ramen Noodles

Day One Hundred Thirty-Three: Neighborhood Detour

There is a street that Ts into the street we live on, basically right in front of our house. We had never been down this street until this week because we never had a need to go that way. But, earlier in the week there was a major water leak on the street we normally use, and the city closed down that street and set up a detour through the neighborhood, which follows the street I was just talking about. It's silly, but it seemed like a bit of an adventure to drive past houses and other side streets that are so close to us but that we have never seen.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Two: Chocolate Truffles with Peppermint Essential Oil

I love my essential oils, but I really don't do much cooking or baking with them. I have used the lime oil in guacamole when I didn't have fresh limes (which turned out delicious, by the way), but that's pretty much it. When I saw a recipe for Healthy Chocolate Truffles, I knew I had a good excuse to bring my oils into the kitchen. The truffles are pretty simple (though a bit messy) to make, and they taste like a special occasion.

Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Day One Hundred Thirty-One: ICE!

My mom came today to surprise the kids with the ICE! experience at the Gaylord Hotel. And, because she is awesome, she took me along, too. We have talked about going before, but one thing and another kept us from doing it. But, I'm glad we finally made it! The area with the ice sculptures was kept at a painfully chilly nine degrees, but the sculptures, which were inspired by The Night Before Christmas poem, were amazing and were really a sight to behold. Plus, the resort had so many other activities to enjoy, like snow tubing, snowball throwing, ice skating (which we couldn't do because of the rain), and some other things as well. We had a wonderful time, and we didn't freeze to death!

All bundled up for this First

"Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

My little Eskimos

I love doing Firsts with the people I love!

Day One Hundred Thirty: Thumbprint Cookies

I've always heard of thumbprint cookies, but until today, I had never made any. The recipe I found is a healthier version, utilizing almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, honey, coconut oil, and sugarless fruit spread (I used pear fruit spread because that's what I had on hand. And I threw in some chia seeds just for kicks!) I'm really happy with the way they turned out and will definitely make them again!

Thumbprint Cookies

Day One Hundred Twenty-Nine: Calming Magnesium Body Butter

As previously mentioned, I have been reading about the benefits of magnesium lately, so when I found a recipe for Calming Magnesium Body Butter, I was excited to give it a try. It smells wonderful and feels really great, and I'm hopeful it will live up to its promises to reduce stress, help with sleep, and ease sore muscles.

Calming Magnesium Body Butter

Day One Hundred Twenty-Eight: Grape Penguins

In preparation for tomorrow's Winter Breakfast, I made a whole waddle of grape penguins tonight. These creatures have never made an appearance at Winter breakfast before, so it was a good First for me. And the finished product just made me smile.

Perfect plate of penguins

Day One Hundred Twenty-Seven: Snickers Pie

Our family has fallen in love with Black Walnut Cafe since we moved to Flower Mound, and we are frequent visitors. The food is always good and the atmosphere is so serene, since there aren't TVs blaring from every wall. Dessert is generally a temptation we manage to avoid, but tonight, Jeff and I decided to indulge while we were out on our date. I had the Snickers Pie, which was a new and delectable treat for me.

Day One Hundred Twenty-Six: Magnesium Oil

I have read a few articles lately that talked about the benefits of magnesium and the fact that many people are deficient in this important element. The best source of magnesium seems to be walking barefoot on a beach near the ocean, and while that is the method I would prefer, it's not my usual reality. So, I decided to order some magnesium oil spray, which can be spritzed on and absorbed through the skin or mixed with other things to make a lotion. I'm excited to give it a try.

Day One Hundred Twenty-Five: Instant Pot Chicken

We have had an Instant Pot for more than a year, but we really haven't explored all its possible uses. I have mostly used to make beans. But, tonight the dinner crunch caught up with me (again!), and I really needed to get the chicken cooked in record time. I threw several raw chicken breasts into the cooker and hoped for the best while I busily worked on the rest of the dinner preparations. Eighteen minutes later, I had five fully cooked chicken breasts, ready to be shredded and put into my enchiladas. No mess, no fuss. I'm kicking myself for not employing this handy device more often, but I can assure you it will see more action in the future.

Day One Hundred Twenty Four: 830 Miles in Five Days

Since Friday, I have logged just over 830 miles behind the wheel. These are actual driving miles and not just snack-eating, nap-taking passenger seat miles. I took Ruth to Tyler for a horse show and then drove her down to Houston for a week of working with her aunt. Then, I headed up to Belton so I could catch my mom in a singing performance, before heading home this afternoon. We are a road tripping family, but Jeff and I usually either split the driving or he does the bulk of it, so this was definitely a record for me.

Day One Hundred Twenty-Three: Master Singers Concert

My mom has always had a beautiful singing voice, and she has participated with various groups throughout the years. She recently joined the Central Texas Master Singers, and what a treat it was for Max and Clay and me, along with some of our extended family members, to get to attend their Christmas concert, performed with a full orchestra. I'm proud of my mom and am thankful I was able to add this to my list of Firsts!

Bethlehem Skies

The Central Texas Master Singers

It was great to spend the evening with my cousin, uncle and grandmother!

My beautiful mom and two of her biggest fans

Day One Hundred Twenty-Two: Rogue One

I am not really a fanatical Stars Wars fan, but I have seen all the movies at least once, in the theater, no less. All except one. I missed Rogue One last year, because, according to our family rule, Clay was still too young to see the movies, so I stayed home with him while everyone else went to see it. The older kids have since taken a vote to let Clay into the Stars Wars club a little early, so he's been trying to see all of them before the new one comes out in theaters next week. Since I missed Rogue One, I decided I better get caught up, too. So Max and Clay and I piled into the back seat of the parked car today and watched it on an iPad with a shattered screen. There were several new experiences in there, and a good time was had by all!

Watching Rogue One with a couple of cuties

Day One Hundred Twenty-One: Dinner Out with my Littles

Because our family is in a crazy divide-and-conquer stage of life, I had dinner out with just my "Bigs" a few weeks ago, and tonight I got to have dinner out with just my "Littles." (In both cases, we went to Mexican food restaurants, which is how you know I'm raising my kids right!) The boys picked Chuy's, a family favorite from way back, and we had fun watching a lady make tortillas and indulging in some of our favorite Mexican food, smothered in creamy jalapeno sauce. While I would prefer to have all my people together, I do also appreciate and enjoy the time spent with one or two of them at a time.

Excited about fresh tortillas

Dinner with my "Littles" (who aren't very little!)

Day One Hundred Twenty: Single Parent Trip to Tyler

I admit, today's First is a bit of a stretch. I've certainly taken various kids to various places, even for overnight stays. But this is my first time to do an overnight trip to Tyler without Jeff and with just three-fourths of the kiddos. While it isn't a radical First, it does feel odd to be here with most, but not all, of my people.

Day One Hundred Nineteen: Udemy

Udemy had a huge Black Friday sale, and I decided to purchase some classes for the betterment of myself and my kids. Clay has been doing a kid-friendly watercolor class, which he absolutely loves and which has been saving this art teacher's sanity the last couple of weeks. Today, I started a Spanish course, not for a kid or for school, but just for me, which felt like a treat. Based on these two classes, I could definitely see us utilizing Udemy for more classes in the future.

Day One Hundred Eighteen: Norwex

I've been hearing about Norwex cleaning products for a while and have been curious, but I hadn't tried them until today. At the Mom's Night Out I went to last night, we had a little gift exchange, and I ended up with a bag of Norwex products. So far, I am most excited with the window cloth. My mirrors look great, and I was impressed with how streak-free my granite counter tops and glass stove top were after a wipe down with the cloth. And I love that the whole idea is to remove as many chemicals from your home as possible.

My bag of goodies included a window cloth, a dusting mitt, a scrubby dish towel,
hand sanitizer, hand wash, and wrinkle releaser.

Day One Hundred Seventeen: Mom's Night Out

Tonight was the first time I have been able to join in on a Mom's Night Out with our new CC campus. Since we only go to the afternoon class, and since there are two of those, there were several moms that I didn't know very well, and it was nice to get to spend some time visiting with them. This is a truly wonderful group of ladies, and I'm thankful to be in community with them!

*Not my photo

Day One Hundred Sixteen: Sipping Rum

I like rum-based cocktails, and that's usually the way I think of enjoying rum, but tonight we got to try a higher quality "sipping" rum, and it was really nice.

Day One Hundred Fifteen: New Twists on Old Favorites

I was in a cooking mood today, and, no, that's not my First. 🙂  I actually love to cook when I have the time. Today I whipped up some family favorites, but with a couple of the dishes I strayed from my usual recipes for something a little different.

My family loves Brussels sprouts, and I make them often--always caramelized with lemon juice squeezed on just before serving. But I found a recipe that added avocado, bacon, caramelized onions, and balsamic vinegar, and I knew instantly that my family wouldn't mind veering from the norm. Everyone loved the dish, and it may actually become our new go-to Brussels sprouts dish.

Photo credit: https://heatherchristo.com/2017/10/30/brussels-sprouts-with-bacon-red-onion-and-avocado/

Amped up Brussels Sprouts

I also make homemade hummus from time to time. Jeff and I prefer the homemade version, but the kids like the flavors available in the store-bought versions. So, I attempted a flavored one this time by incorporating caramelized onions in a balsamic reduction. (Can you figure out today's secret ingredients?!) We haven't tried it yet, but everyone seemed happy with the smell produced by the onions while they were cooking, so I suspect it will be a hit.

*Photo credit: https://www.camelliabrand.com/recipes/balsamic-caramelized-onion-hummus/

Caramelized Onion Hummus

Day One Hundred Fourteen: Escape Room

We've been wanting to try an escape room for a while, and tonight we finally got our chance. We had given Ruth tickets for her half-birthday to be used tonight while the boys had other engagements. The room we were in was designed for eight people, but no one else booked this particular room, so we had it all to ourselves. We had so much fun trying to solve the puzzles, but unfortunately we couldn't solve all of them in our allotted hour. We are already looking forward to our next escape room experience.

Afterwards, we had another first experience at Flower Mound's new ice cream sandwich shop. And, we are already looking forward to our next experience with that as well!

The pre-game meeting

I'm not quite sure how they came up with the name. 😉

Coconut chocolate chip cookie/salted caramel ice cream sandwich from Pokey O's

Day One Hundred Thirteen: Mulberry Street Cantina

Jeff and I were able to sneak away for a date tonight, and we ended up in Denton after dropping Weston off at a Boy Scout campout. We had dinner at Milpa, which was a new place for us, but I felt like I couldn't do ANOTHER Mexican food restaurant as a First, so I'm not focusing on that.

After dinner, we headed over to Mulberry Street Cantina. We aren't usual patrons of actual bars, but this one had excellent reviews, and it seemed like a fun thing to do. And, it was definitely a fun place that drew in all kinds of people, including Santa Claus, which could have been a First in and of itself, since I've never run into Santa in a bar before. But, the real First for the day is that I ordered a Kahlua "neat." Previously, I've only ever had Kahlua in coffee. It was delicious!

Mulberry Street Cantina

Santa walks into a bar...

Kahlua "Neat"

Day One Hundred Twelve: Pantry Curry

As happens all too often, I looked up as it was beginning to get dark outside and thought, "Oh dang! I've got to put something together for dinner." I rushed to the kitchen and frantically flung open the pantry and refrigerator doors searching for anything that would work for feeding a hungry crowd and that wouldn't require too much hands-on time, since I still needed to drop off and pick up kids from practice. In the pantry, I spied two containers of dehydrated vegetables that we took camping with us this  summer -- specifically one container of sweet potato pieces and one of butternut squash. I snatched them up and dumped them in a pan with water and started to boil them. I had no plan, and I'm definitely usually a recipe cook, but I didn't panic. I dumped in some chicken broth and made a little sachet of fresh thyme to throw in. Then, as the veggies began to soften, I started grabbing things out of the pantry -- curry powder, cloves, tummeric, salt, pepper, cayenne, coconut milk. On the spot, I decided I was going to make a curry. It turned out quite delicious, and even though the panicked dinner experience was nothing new, this particular dish was a new one for our family.

Sweet potato/butternut squash curry topped with bacon and cheese

Day One Hundred Eleven: Bedtime Excuse

Bedtime stalling is certainly nothing new around here. It's pretty much a nightly ritual, and I thought I had heard just about every excuse in the book. But tonight, I heard a brand new one. When I went to tuck Clay in, he told me that it felt like there was "brown" in his throat. "Brown?" I asked. "Yes;" he replied, "I can feel colors, and brown is not a good one." This was the first I had heard of a throat problem, and certainly the first time I even knew brown could be a throat problem.

Day One Hundred Ten: Mad Lib

Today, in my Essentials class, I used a Mad Lib that I wrote myself to review some of the concepts we've been working on this semester. I have never written a Mad Lib before, and it was fun but harder than I thought it would be. As with all Mad Libs, it was so silly when we filled in the blanks, and we had lots of laughs.

Day One Hundred Nine: Civil Air Patrol

It wasn't that long ago that I had never heard of the Civil Air Patrol. And yet tonight I found myself at one of their meetings. Of course, I was only there as an observer and a supporter of one girl's dream to attend the Air Force Academy at some point in the not-too-distant future. I love how my kids are constantly introducing me to new things!

Civil Air Patrol drills

Day One Hundred Eight: To the Rescue

Jeff took the boys to the family ranch this weekend. On the way back, the van broke down completely and there weren't any options for rides or rental cars. So, in another case of the First picking me rather than me picking it, I hopped in the car and made the two hour drive to go pick them up. They were glad to be rescued, and I was so thankful they had broken down in a very safe spot, away from the crazy holiday weekend traffic.

Day One Hundred Seven: Mother/Daughter Movie Night

Tonight I got to go the movies with just Ruth and my mom, which has never happened before. We had so much fun hanging out together and seeing Murder on the Orient Express.

I'm so thankful for these lovely ladies and for the chance to spend some quality time with both of them!

Day One Hundred Six: Black Friday

I do believe today was the first Black Friday shopping I have ever done (and actually it will be fine with me if it's the last), and really it was sort of a fluke. After my mom and I picked Ruth up from her riding lesson, Mom mentioned she needed to pick up a hair dryer since hers had died this morning. The next thing we knew, we were surrounded by Black Friday sales and were actively participating in the shopping. In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that we only went to one store, which was just enough to collect this First and pick up a pair of sparkly cat ears, which we obviously needed because they were 50% off. 😉

Sparkly cat ears for the Black Friday win!

Day One Hundred Five: Traveling Thanksgiving

This was the first time we've had a flying travel day on Thanksgiving, so instead of a more traditional celebration, we celebrated at an airport and on a plane. But, we had the opportunity to upgrade to first class, so it was a pretty nice treat! And, as a bonus, our plane arrived about an hour ahead of schedule, which never happens! I'm so thankful I got to spend this day with my people doing what we love to do most!

 

Thanksgiving lunch at the airport with my greatest blessings

First Class Thanksgiving Dinner