School Days!

Well, my little lady's first day of Kindergarten has come and gone!

Surprisingly we both did rather well! No tears from either of us!

The walk back down the hall, and she is the LAST class at the end of the hall, was hard. I had a huge lump in my throat and my nose starting to sting because I was fighting back the crying! There were far too many parents and teachers near the front doors to be crying on my way out! Plus I knew there were a lot of people waiting to hear if I had been able to hold it together or not! lol I had to prove myself and them wrong! heehee!

I was very excited and impatient to pick Regan up after school. It just couldn't come fast enough. And I have to admit the waiting in the car line was torture! But when I drove up and saw my little girl sitting outside waiting with her class I was happy! She glanced up and saw me and she got on her knees, grinned from ear to ear and waved! I pointed to her to go get in line and she did! I wanted to say screw the car line, I want to squeeze my girl and talk about her day....unfortunately it was a "Hey honey, hurry and buckle". But there was lots to talk about on the way home!

All in all it was a great day and I really am glad it's over.

I still wish the time hadn't come for her to be in school already! Bub and I are still wishing for the days she was home with us and we could do things on a whim. I think it's especially hard on Bub and Regan because they already don't get to see each other, and it was nice that when he was home we could spend all his days together. Now they are missing out on a lot more time. Hopefully we will be able to do okay as it goes on!

Well, here are the pictures from the morning. Her putting her shoes on and posing with Samara. I even snapped a picture of her getting out of my Element, though I really wish I had had the nerve to take one of her at her desk! But I didn't want to be that over board mom! lol











And here is a little interview before we left! I am sure I'll look back on this little video one day and cry! Sigh!!

Just a Little

Not too, too much to blog about tonight! No funny stories or rants or ponders.

First to report is the newest addition to the "Etie" side! My cousin Clint and his wife Monique just brought their third child into the world about 6:30 this evening. His name is Clay. I haven't seen him yet, but I am sure he is perfect! A new child, what a blessing!

Regan officially starts school on Monday! I am certain a blog entry will follow that day for sure! I am a little more ready now than I was a few days ago....but she doesn't go for another day or so.....will I still be this ready?!

She is definitely ready. At least she says she is. Do I think she's ready, nope, not at all! lol That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :o)

Daddy comes home on Tuesday! I am being selfish and really hoping he gets his actual 7 days home! I am trying not to gripe too much that he hasn't gotten a full week off in between hitches in about 2 months, but it is really starting to wear on Regan and I! She has been highly emotional and I have felt like it's been a month since he's been home!

Bad thing about him not getting much time home is the "honey do" list gets longer and longer and then I'm the bad wifey (in other's eyes) cause I'm working him so much at home! Hey, I can only do so much when I am home and some things I just simply cannot do by myself!

This hitch we are supposed to construct our new shed! Jason offered to help and that ROCKS! Now I just hope that he is home long enough to complete it!

I have a project I am ready to start on the house. Haven't decided when I'll start it..........

Well, that's about all the report as of now! Wasn't much, but with school starting there will be more and more to write about I am sure! lol

For The Love of a Deviled Chicken

Like most people I am sure, I go through phases. Small obsessions with an item or food. Lets just call them momentary addictions.......



Well, the past few weeks it has been this::





Behold Underwood's Chicken Spread. I have always referred to it as Deviled Chicken, as it's counterpart is the Deviled Ham.

Now while I am not a fan of the Deviled Ham, hell I am not sure I've ever had it really, I am in LOVE with this chicken in a can!

I am sure you are probably gagging and thinking this is something like a potted meat. This definitely isn't a cheap meat in a can!

Deviled Chicken reminds me of when my family lived in California. We would go to the beach all day and for lunch my mom would make us these sandwiches. They were so good! The best part is you don't need any condiments. All you need is bread, this can and something to spread it with. No soggy sandwiches!

I have been obsessing over these the past few weeks as I said before. I bought a few cans to keep in the pantry in case we headed to the sprinkler park or something. Well, by the time I got home I was craving some. I ended up eating what I bought over the next 2 days.

At almost $2 a can, it is pricey for a little can that makes me 1 1/2 well filled sandwiches. But at the same time, that's a $2 meal and one that I L-O-V-E! :o)

At the moment I have about 6 or 7 cans in the pantry. Every time I head to the store I grab a few! I think that's what I will be having for lunch today too!

Assuming others shared my love for this canned meat I asked a few of my girlfriends if they liked it and none seems to know what it was. And to my surprise most have never even seen it! I guess if my mom hadn't given it to me when I was a little girl I wouldn't know either! But I have to say, I am SO glad I know about it!!

So trust me and try it! It's a great pantry item!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things #3

Tonight, like every other night, Regan was doing flips onto the chair and couch. She did this long headstand onto the chair when her nightgown went up, revealing a white tush with a tan line.

I told her, "go put some panties on crazy girl!"

She replied "I do have panties on...."

I said, "oh....yeah right!"

She quipped, "I do, they are butt panties.......they look just like my butt!!"



OMG, I wish Bub or someone had been here to witness that ingenious response! Even I would have never been quick enough to come up with that! lol

Man, I love that little girl!!

I am Not Ready!!!!!

I am officially MUSH!

Yesterday I made the trip to Green T to speak to someone about a few things. It was a week till everyone else started school and I had yet to find out when Regan's first day was. And on top of that I had SO many questions.

I think it ended up being maybe the Vice Principle I spoke to. She let me know when the orientation was, the day half the classes would go and then the official first day way. Well, she said "Tuesday will be their first full day and then they will go every day after that!". I got an instant lump in my throat, so big it almost choked me. And my eyes swelled with tears. I was fighting it back as hard as I could and then my little girls says " my momma doesn't want me to go to school!" I laughed and the lump got bigger!

Normally I would have cried in the car, but Regan would have probably made fun of me and then told everyone at playgroup that I cried because we visiting her new school! lol

Well since I got my dates for everything, I now knew that Thursday (today) was indeed Regan's official last day at her old "school". I bagged up the teacher's gifts and we bought a cookie cake to bring as a treat for the kids (I bailed out on making the cone cupcakes....I am a tired girl!).

When I dropped her off this morning we delivered the gifts to each of the teachers. When they asked why I said "today is Regan's last day", and here came that damn lump again. I couldn't even swallow anymore! It's sad when phases of our lives end like this! Nothing will be as it once was! Regan attended this daycare for over 3 years of her 5 year life. This is a huge part of her life and of mine!



You know I have been dreading this for over a year. When it was way too soon to be worrying about her starting school and all. I sometimes thought to myself, I will probably stress about it now and when the time comes we will all be ready and it won't even be a big deal! I also thought that by then I would be so ready for her to go I'd be counting down the days.

Well, the time has come and I'M NOT READY!!! I want to cry just writing about this!

I sometimes think if we had decided to have another child by now, the transition wouldn't be half this bad. But at the same time, I'm a mom and she is my baby and I hate change! Grrr!

I feel powerless because I want to have things the way they are for just a little while longer! I guess since I was able to make the decision to keep her out of Pre K, it feels like I should be able to do the same this time around. Unfortunately this isn't happening!

I should be happy for her. She is so very ready! I have never met a child who will wake up at 6 in the morning, turn on her TV, grab her workbook and sit on her bed and start writing letters and matching shapes and identifying patterns.......she is ready....

............me, not so much!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Tonight's venture is the ice cream cone cupcake.

I have had these before, always loved them SO much but somehow never had the urge to make them. .........Until the other day.

Now I am making them for playgroup tomorrow and then again tomorrow night for Regan's class at her daycare. For the New Iberia kid (where her daycare is), class starts on Friday. So as a treat I am making these for her class and the teachers and workers and have ordered candles from a friend as an end of the year thank you!

Anyhoo back to my task at hand. Like I said, I had never made these and decided I could wing it and didn't need to look it up on the internet to save myself the guessing work.

So here are my magic ingredients - minus the stuff for the cake.



Here is a pan I got last minute because I was unsure as to how I was going to bake and/or transport said cone cupcakes.



Turns out I am a pretty smart damn cookie, cause the 24 cones that came in the box fit perfecting in the sized pan. And since I spent the little extra for the ones with a lid, I can ice them tonight and keep them all fresh AND put them in my Element and safely transport them to my friends house for our potluck! GO ME!! lol



I was not sure how to fill them, but as luck has it, my perfect cookie scoop was unbelievably the perfect answer!



I decided to fill the cups up to the lower rim. This gave me extra batter. I wasn't sure what amount they would rise and wanted to leave room for the icing. And I didn't want the icing to be smooshed (is that a word?) by the lid.

I found out that I could have probably used all the batter in the cones, but it still worked out.

Now baking time......don't even get me started on that one! I think they were in there like 30 minutes! This doesn't seem like a long time unless you are checking every five minutes. And everytime you think they are done, they aren't! lol



This was my first, pull them out of the oven, thought they are done. Upon further inspection I found that the base of the cones were filled with liquidy batter still. Not good.



But when I pulled them out the last time, it appeared there were visible signs they were done. They were golden, and the cake pulled itself away from the sides of the cone a bit.



I really hope these are a hit. I know I love them, but I've never had them the day after. Usually fresh the day they were made. Since I refuse to wake up at 6 am to bake, I am hoping they are as good!!

Update: Upon covering these things I found it was a PITA!! To get the lid to close I had to take some of them out. This sucks because I of course want them all to go to my destination. So technically to fit comfortably in this sized pan you can fit 18 in there!!

Update for the Week

Well, Bub left out this morning, so yep - here I am blogging!

There is just no time when he is home to blog! Or better yet, I am spending the time I would be blogging with my husband......good enough reason I think! LOL

As usual, his hitch home was cut short. Home late afternoon Tuesday and gone Sunday morning. It sucks. And while I find myself bitching about it under my breath, in the same breath I am thankful he is working steadily. And not only steadily, but extra. And the extra is definitely putting us back with our savings and helping finish up around the house. We are finally getting our shed in a few weeks and once the dirt goes down in the back we will work on getting the fence up!

Last week we headed to New Orleans to get the Auto Start for my Element and also take Regan to the Aquarium.

Can I just say I LOVE my Auto Start!!?! Not having to get into a hot vehicle after shopping is fabulous! I really wish I had this when Regan was a baby, it would have been so nice!!

The Aquarium was nice. We had a good time! Lots to see and do! This time around we got to pet sting rays and a little shark of some sort! This was our 2nd time there, will probably be our last.

Here are some highlights from our visit!

















Here is a video of the sting ray that let me pet it forever! So awesome!!