Reunioncationalizing Part Deux

Cam preparing pictures for cousins...

Reason #849 I love being a mother

Freshly washed sheets or blank canvas?

Reunionicationalizing

6 days until the reunion.

Holla!

Mama Rawl turns...

Yesterday was Mama Rawlins' birthday. She turned an age that I will not specify out of my great love for her. But I will say that she was 20 when she had Chase. And he will be 30 in February. But that's all I'm saying.

So to mark such a momentous occasion we had a little party. We originally thought about doing a BIG to-do; you know, whoop it up Texas-style. But the sons reminded the wives that their mommy isn't really one who loves attention in that manner. So we put our party planning books away and focused on something smaller. A surprise dinner - family only! - at Logan's Roadhouse. We got a little room in the back so the kids could all have freedom (freedom which included Chase allowing Miles to wield as many as THREE STEAK KNIVES at a time, but that's another story). It was nice. T-Bull was surprised and seemed to enjoy herself. A good time was had by all.

See that sweet blow-up of Tori? Looks a lot like Miles, don't you think?!

Brandon, Danielle and Cam at the kids' table. Brandon should enjoy this. He's intensely impressed whenever he's featured on the internet.

\ She makes her age (which will not be mentioned) beautiful, right?!

Opening her AARP card. I've been holding on to that puppy for a couple weeks.

The Cake*.

The tables were decorated with pictures of T through the years.

Happy Birthday Tori!!! We love you!

 

*As usual with my brood there is always a Story. The story behind the cake is this: I ordered a beautiful custom cake for Tori. We brought it home and set it on the counter. Miles went down for a late nap and I took Sophie into her room to play. A few minutes later, Chase came in looking serious, got down on the floor and gripped my shoulder. Looking right in my eyes he said, "The cake is destroyed. I don't know what else to tell you. I don't know how to say it any other way." Apparently Cameron had wanted to either hold it or take a look, we're not sure. But he pulled it off the counter and it landed top down. After scraping it off the floor it looked like this.

Here's Cam being remorseful.

Anyway, with only about an hour until we had to leave for the restaurant I called Jen to tell her what happened. She made a few suggestions, but we both figured we'd have to just get a generic cake. As I was scrubbing icing off the floor, though, I got a call from Brian. I guess he found a Walmart in the area who could do it but he had to get there fast. And they couldn't do any writing or anything. BUT, he got it done! I like to think there was probably some charming smooth-talk from Brian. There usually is.

Open head, pour out contents.

There's no real purpose to this blog (note to reader/self: am in love with the use of italics in blogging. There's just nothing better to drive home a point...too much? Okay, yeah.). But I'm nothing if not an excellent sharer.

Firstly, you should know that during the summer months here in Texas my daily routine changes so that everything gets done before noon, when things heat up. The gym, cleaning, errands - all of it. So after lunch when nap time rolls around we've resorted to movies. One for the boys, one for me. Which brings about my point. I've become smitten with Netflix instant play. Why? Because they have so many, many BBC goodies. It's a veritable candy store for the Austen-lover in me. After stumbling onto this blog and finding the author's list of Sumptuous Literary Adaptations, I was hooked. So far I have North and South, Daniel Deronda, Under the Greenwood Tree and Wives and Daughters under my belt. And there are enough to sustain me through the entirety of the summer. Oh, netflix. How do I love thee?

Second, I keep hearing about this book. I can't make up my mind as to whether or not I will read it. The library doesn't have it, so I'd have to buy it. And that makes the decision much harder. I'm intrigued by the idea though, right? Am I? I can't tell. The best quote from amazon.com's Editor's Review is this: "But critics also pointed out that this parody shows that Austen’s novel has remained so powerful over time that even the undead can’t spoil it." Hmmm...so provocative!

Third, my boys play a lot of "good guys and bad guys" games. I fully support this. My brothers used to run around the neighborhood at night in full-on camo and face paint playing "war." And they all turned out pretty well. Anyhoo, we hear a lot of "he's a bad guy!" in our house, so Chase thought it would be fun to teach them to say, "he's the antagonist!" It's. Awesome. We took them to the mall play area a couple of days ago and they kept running up to us yelling, "He's the antagonist! Get him!"

Last, this song has me utterly convinced that Thom Yorke is not of this world. Because no earth-bound, CO2-secreting mammal should be able to come up with this kind of thing. It's just not natural. And that, that is why we love him.

Go ahead. Have a look-see. (To be continued...meaningful compversation about the evils of child labor. Feel free to watch North and South to bone up on this subject,)

A-camping we go

So in a couple weeks we'll be heading off for our family reunion. Have I mentioned I crazyexcited? No? I'm seriously CRAZYEXCITED people!

Anyway, our original plan was to camp along the way. We do this when we are on long distance trips. I think it's glorious fun. Mostly because it means I'll get to make s'mores but that's normal, right?

So as our trip approaches I started thinking about the fact that we would soon be camping. And I started to vacillate. On the one hand, I think camping is awesome. On the other hand, I really appreciate air conditioning and a mattress while I'm trying to sleep. But what really got me thinking was all the camping gear we were going to have to bring, in addition to the rest of our vacation crap. So I started to look at hotel rooms in our area...and remembered the OTHER reason we love to camp. We like to save money! To get a hotel in a decent (not nice, just bug/nast free) place with a pool was going to be upwards of $125!!! Holy recession, Batman! I mean, Chase did just get a nice little bump in salary but we didn't plan on spending it all on a hotel room for one night!

So I went back to the camping plan. And lo and behold, look what I found!

Did you know KOA campgrounds have these little beauties? For $50 a night you can sleep in a little cabin with electricity, air conditioning, a double mattress with bunkbeds?! Plus you get all the awesomeness of camping without having to drag all the gear. We just need to pack some frozen hot dogs and s'mores materials in the cooler and bring pillows and bedding and we're home free. The kids get to sleep in the woods, have a bonfire, go swimming and have access to a playground.

Needless to say, we're tres excited!

If you have 21 minutes...

Check this out. This is an interview of an LDS student attending Harvard. She's well-spoken, well-researched and dang it if she isn't just a big ball of cute.

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Got more questions? Go here.

In need of a good ab workout?

    

And a special one for all my UMC lovelies...

Insert title here...

Not feeling creative today. But feeling the need to update.

Behold...

I felt creative(ish) in June. Refinished the boys' bookshelf, which was a lovely light oak veneer - you know, one of those classy Target numbers from our college days. I think it's cuter in Guacamole with some fun paper mod podged in. And by george it was time for Sophie to have a tutu. I need to fill it out more, though.

Ramen noodles on hot summer nights. I'd rather have the stove on for 5 minutes, than 20. And yes, I know. I'm, like, the world's most amazing mom. You don't have to tell me. Oh, and we call those "Kung Fu Panda noodles" at my house and my kids like to eat them with Tofu. Thank you, Disney.

Hot summer nights means Miles likes to doff his clothes in favor of wearing just a Darth Vadar mask. May the force be with you.

Sophie doing her post-nap/sunscreen hair Nick Nolte impression. Dead ringer if you ask me.

Fourth of July we hit IHOP for the traditional Rawl-family breakfast. Afterward we went to Kevin and Susan's to party like it's 1999. The kids swam like fishies. Miles was maxin' and relaxin'. And I made these patriotic pies. I used the crust recipe found below and this pie recipe. Mmmmm..... And don't laugh at my crust. It tastes good even if looks crazy.

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup lard (I use margarine, butter or shortening)

6 tablespoons cold water

 

Cut together first 3 ingredients, then slowly add water. Divide dough in half, roll into two balls, cover in saran wrap and chill for at least 4 hours. Makes two 9-inch crusts.

***This is my chicken pot pie crust recipe. To use for sweet pie, add 2 T. sugar to dough and then do an egg wash over dough and sprinkle on sugar before baking.

If you like the BBC (*cough* BETTER) version of Pride and Prejudice...

Please tell me you've seen North and South.

No, not THAT North and South.

THIS North and South.

Just trust me on this one. Trust. Me. The last scene makes all 212 minutes worth it.

p.s. I swear it has nothing to do with my super secret crush on Richard Armitage. I SWEAR.

Up the Ante

So to celebrate the last 30 days of our weight loss challenge and to kick it into high gear we've made a decision: No ice cream and no eating out (Chase gets exceptions for work lunches that he can't get out of - he's still new, you know) for the month of July. Well, for the first 30 days of July. We'll be traveling July 31 on our way to our kick-a vacation and will thus be eating out.

We figure this will help us save some money as well, since I tend to cook less (and eat out more) during the summer. And ice cream...well, duh. We get thank you cards from Ben and Jerry on a regular basis. They're kids are going to enjoy college because of us.

So, go to your local restaurant and enjoy some ice cream for me this month.