We are Family... I Got All my Sistahs With Me.

Except one... more on that later. 

Some quick mini-sodes from the the Hotwheel Hacienda lately... Friday was the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and in a cruel twist of irony here we are again, with Gustav knocking on the Gulf's door as a category 5. Thankfully our Louisiana family is smart, and hightailed it outta there. We should know in a few days the extent of the damage, but they are hoping there's something still standing to come home TO. Hang in there, NOLA - we're all thinking of you. 


Every Labor Day weekend for us = Family Reunions.

This year we have two, the usual one on my side and a new one on Caleb's side. Hitting them both won't be too hard because concidentally, some genius of a person planned them within a 3 mile radius of each other.

What I'm Cooking: 

Recording this here because I forget EVERY year...

Miss Mary Bobo's Green Rice Casserole

My mom always makes this and it's the hit of the reunion, but because their kitchen is literally gutted due to renovations, I decided to give it a go. Mom discovered the recipe in Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Cookbook in Lynchburg, TN - home of THE Jack Daniels Distillery.
(If you're ever in the neighborhood, the tour is wonderful and the distillery grounds are gorgeous.)

• 3 cups cooked long-grain rice, prepared according to package directions (can use a brown/white combo)
  
• 1 pint low-fat sour cream
  
• 1 can cream of celery soup
  
• 6 oz can diced green chilies, DO NOT drain
  
• 2 cans Rotel, drained
  
• 8 oz. cubed Monterrey Jack cheese, divided
  
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  
• 1/2 stick butter or butter substitute
  

- Mix cooked rice, soup, and sour cream together in large bowl.

- Turn half of rice mixture into greased round 2 quart casserole dish.

- Sprinkle chilies and Rotel on top. Layer half the cubed and shredded cheese.

- Top with remaining rice mixture, chilies, Rotel, and cheese.

- Dot with butter & cover tightly with foil. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

- Remove foil and bake additional 5 - 10 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly.

The dessert I brought was my now-signature dish - a Triple Berry Lemon Trifle.

I like to make it just so I can lick the spoon from the lemon curd jar. God bless the English for inventing that stuff.

Reunion turnout seemed a bit on the low side this year - I can think of 5 families that couldn't make it. My sister was one of them since she had an in-law reunion to go to in Ft. Payne. Missed you Amanda!

I'll post some photos tomorrow as soon as I can get them off my phone.

For now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite Finn photos.. (ahhhh, I loves me some alliteration!)

King of the Mulch Pile...

Happy Holidays!

Christmas at Hotwheel Hacienda was wonderful! This was the first year Finn got the Santa thing and Eli had so much fun opening presents and seeing all the family. Caleb and I had to really plan ahead to fit in all the visits and still have a stress-free holiday, but we did it pretty well. We also tried to focus more on spending time with family and friends than worshipping at the feet of the needless consumerism that is so easy to get caught up in. I think this will get harder as the boys get older and get the "I wannas", but hopefully we're setting a precedent.

Needless to say, I ate waaayyyy too much junk the past week and am now trying to asess the damage wrought by mass quantities of sausage balls, green rice casserole, homemade chex mix, and many units of festive drinks! Sorry we didn't send out cards this year - I couldn't manage to get a good photo and then I just ran out of time. Think of it as one less card you have to toss now that Christmas is over!


Steph & Caleb: Taken at Grandmother & Grandaddy's house after a huge dinner...



Eli and his puppy eyes
This is what he does every time he wants someone, usually a female, to pay attention to him. The boy is a FLIRT.


Santa brought Spiderman!
Aunt Sam got this last year and it was a bit big so I stashed it in the closet for later. When I was fumbling for the wrapping paper this year, it was re-discovered and has been the HIT of Christmas morning. Seriously... she got it for like 75% off after Halloween.

To see all our holiday photos, visit our Flickr albums by clicking here.

Finally, I know Christmas is over, but I saw this over at Major Bedhead and had to post it. It made me laugh.

So Let's Try this Again...

Hey there! It's been a while and some of you have wondered what's going on with our site. Ready for a little background story? Here goes...

Two and a half years ago when our first son was born we received a subscription to a babysite that allowed us to keep an online baby book of sorts. We've enjoyed sharing photos and journal entries of both our boys, Finn & Eliot, especially those of you who aren't as close geographically as we'd like you to be. I'm trying to phase out that babysite and transition everything to this site (don't worry - we saved everything from the old site!) and I hope you will still check in from time to time to see what we're up to.

I'm keeping this site public - hopefully there won't be any problems with that - but you won't be getting the email updates like you once were receiving everytime we added things to the site. It will be up to you to check back often so bookmark us! And don't forget to leave your comments!

It will be a bit different, so please hang with me as I learn the ins and outs of Blogger and flickr. Of course, I can only do this when the boys are sleeping peacefully like the angels you all know they are (ha!).

So, welcome. Have some coffee (it's plentiful around here). Scoot that load of laundry off the couch. And for pete's sake, mind those hordes of Hotwheels lurking around every corner...