I can only be so GREEN!

So, I finally dropped my truck off at the body shop to get the hail damage from March fixed. It will be there for about 2 weeks. In the mean time, the car rental place set me up with a Toyota Prius Hybrid. I like the idea of an electric car that gets 50 miles a gallon, and I am very happy that there are people willing to drive these cars, but I am not one of them. I like the safety and storage capacity of my big gas guzzling Yukon and will not be trading it in for an eco friendly car anytime soon. I will however, keep reducing, reusing, recycling, and water conserving. I will pick up trash along my walking route, and I will buy and eat organic food, and I will bring my own shopping bags to HEB, but that is as green as I get.

Make that 4 toilets I have to clean now!

Jaden is officially potty trained!!! This is very exciting, and has me doing all sort of things I never thought I would do. I did not think I would bribe my child with candy, stickers, or cupcakes for using the potty. I did not think I would let him pee in the neighbors yard because we were on a walk and he had to go. I did not even know the people whose yard he peed in. I definitely did not think I would have to sit next to him and read a story while he did #2. I did not think I would run like a crazy person when I heard the words "I have to pee-pee" and drop everything to hurry to the baby potty. And I did not think about the fact that I would have an extra toilet to clean. And I have to clean it every time he goes! Yuck! Obviously, this is not my favorite part of Jaden being potty trained. I hate cleaning toilets! It looks like my new project will be getting Jaden to use the big potty!

Brody's 6 month photo shoot

Favorite Recipe

I don't have a picture of my favorite recipe, but I promise you it is great! I actually got it from one of my blogger friends, (http://www.followfaithfully.com/) and then adapted it to my own specifications. Isn't that the best part of cooking, making it your own. So, here it is, Chicken Biscuits, & Gravy

Ingredients: 3-4 chicken breasts, 1 stick butter, cream of mushroom soup, medium onion, 2 tbsp flour, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 cloves garlic minced, 2 cups Bisquick, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook chicken and then shred into pieces, strips (I like to make big batches of chicken breasts in a crock pot with chicken broth and then shred it and freeze it for meals like this, and king ranch chicken, etc..)
2. Spread chicken in bottom of baking dish
3. Saute onion in skillet with 1/2 stick butter
4. Add flour,(mix well) then chicken broth, 1/2 the milk & lemon juice
5. Pour mixture over chicken in dish
6. Mix remaining milk with bisquick & cheese
7. Drop ontop of chicken in ball shapes
8. Melt butter with garlic in microwave
9. Brush bisquick with garlic butter

Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes

Yummy! Yummy!

Such Big Boys

My boys have been growing up so fast. When we went on vacation we "left" Jaden's pacifier "bebe" at Grandmas house. I have been trying to get rid of Jaden's "bebe" for quite a while now, but he has been so attached to it, I have been unsuccessful in my attempts. Well, I came up with the brilliant plan to forget them at Grandmas after our beach trip. It was perfect. We spent the first week without "bebe" in Leakey. Jaden is so busy and has so much fun in Leakey, that he didn't even miss it. He did have a hard time winding down at night, and stayed up an extra hour or so, but that was the worst of it. And now, Jaden is officially potty-training. We started this past weekend, and he is doing way better than I expected. He is telling me when he needs to go, going on the potty, and has only had a few accidents. We are so proud of him. My baby is truly a big boy now.

All of Jaden's bedtime buddies

Guess who didn't want to take a nap? Big boy Brody. Ok, so Brody is not a big boy yet by any means, but he is definitely a big baby. We had his 6 month well check early last week, and he measured in at 18lbs 11 oz, and 28 inches long. He is in the 90% percentile. He is moving all over the place. I wouldn't quite call it crawling, but he scoots, rolls and can almost pull himself up to standing position on whatever he can grab a hold of. (including his crib) So after witnessing him peeking over the crib and then trying to pull himself up, I have decided to move his crib down to the next setting.

Vacation Highlights

We started our vacation in Port Aransas, just Josh and I, for 3 wonderful nights. We celebrated our 5th wedding anv. on June 25th. We left the kids with my parents and headed out for some quality bonding on the beach. We felt giddy and young, like newlyweds again. The kids had fun at camp Grandmas, and Josh and I enjoyed doing whatever we wanted to. We laughed at all the parents struggling with strollers on the beach, calming down whining kids, and chasing toddlers around, as we sat in our beach chairs holding hands, drinking beer, and watching the waves with out a care in the world. We did miss the kids and can't wait to plan a family trip to Port A. They will love the beach, and it was a very family friendly town.

We ate out at every meal, just because we could so easily, and part of my vacation was not having to cook or clean. At one of the bars, the locals all brought their dogs. Port A is a very laid back town. I enjoyed not fixing my hair or wearing makeup. Just beach attire.

We stayed at the Sand Castle. We thought it was really nice, and would highly recommend it. It is right on the beach and has a great big pool. After Port A, Josh headed back to Austin so he could work, and the kids and I went to Leakey with my parents for 1 1/2 weeks of fun in the sun.

Jaden is a river rat. We spent every day in the water, and he can't wait until he is big enough to tube like the rest of us. Brody got in the water too, but I am not sure he enjoyed it as much as his older brother. He will.

I love that we all got to spend our days outside playing.

My dad collects old cars, this is his 31 Ford. Jaden loves to play in them.

The family

My aunt and uncle have a place in Leakey too, so they came over for dinner a few nights.

Jaden loved these flags

Leakey is a town of 387, (plus all of the people that have vacation house there) but every July 4th they have the best little parade in Texas. My Dad, Josh and Jaden rode in Dad's car for the parade and threw candy to the spectators.

Happy 4th of July!!