A Fall Night with Friends

I am SO HAPPY to report to the blogsphere that the rain has stopped in North Central Louisiana!!! The older I get, the more I enjoy a rainy day, and of course am grateful for the benefits of it. However, ENOUGH was enough :)
Because we had all been cooped up for so long, it was really nice to have our supper club dinner out on the patio Saturday night. Preston went to his Grandfather's farm for the night, and we spent the day getting ready for the party. I really enjoy entertaining and love cooking so this is right up my alley. I think dinner turned out ok--all you cooks out there will understand that you don't really taste the food when you have cooked it. The biggest hits were the brown-sugar brie served with pear, and my signature cocktail for the night, a brandy smasher. The only minor problem was that I did not buy QUITE enough pork tenderloin...but I had plenty of Krispy Kreme bread pudding....
So, thanks to Katie and Cullen, Nancy and Trotter, and MaryAnne and Brian for another fun night!! I can't wait for our next meeting!

Zesty Crawfish Casserole

A little backstory before I post this recipe. I made my Mom's Zesty Crawfish Casserole for "supper" last night and posted on facebook how much I love to cook things I was raised eating. Apparently, my Mom's culinary talents are well-known and I was asked to post the recipe. Well, as this is too much for a status update, I chose to add to my blog. If you are on the fence---TRY THIS! It is really good.

1 small pkg. saffron rice
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 stick butter (health nut here uses 1/2 stick-still tastes good to me!)
1 can Rotel tomatoes (spice to your liking)
1 lb crawfish tails
1 can cream of mushroom soup (use the lowfat--you'll never know)
grated cheddar cheese

Cook rice according to package directions. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute celery, bell pepper, and onion in butter. Add tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes. Combine cooked rice, tomato mixture, soup and crawfish in 9 X 13 casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes--until bubbly and DELICIOUS!

ENJOY!

TOUCHDOWN!

It is official....we have a new Louisiana Tech Bulldog FAN! Preston was a champ at the home opener tonight--and as usual he was a good luck charm to the Bulldogs! We even taught him how to make the "TOUCHDOWN" gesture and he did it throughout the game--sometimes just for show-but it was TOO cute! Nana, Pops, Resa, and Aunt Kendal were at the game as well, and Preston especially enjoyed his trip down to the sideline to see "Champ" the mascot! Both he and Pops were grinning ear to ear :)

And, on a completely unrelated note, Jeff and I did run the Race for the Cure this morning....but DON'T look up our time!!!! We missed the starting gun!!! I almost started crying because I had really trained hard and wanted to at least place in my age group :( Well, there's always next year...

Hope everyone is doing well. Our best to you all!!!

Preston's First Haircut

I held out as long as I could. It really was time! I was starting to feel bad when Preston's "bangs" were in his eyes ...we got a HAIRCUT today!! Mrs. Suzy did not TOUCH his little curls in the back, and we won't unless it gets mulletish, but he really does look handsome with his new do. Oh, he didn't care much for it--hence the lack of a very good picture-but I just HAD to document. Rain, rain go AWAY.....

Headed to Worship!

Ok, I will admit it...I just had to take pictures this morning before church because I LOVE Preston's new little fall church suit! As usual, Daddy was did not like it quite as much, but I thought my precious was just cute as a button :)

Preston had a big morning at church, as he started the Early Christian Awareness (ECA) program during the Sunday School hour. The children are grouped by age, of course, and parents volunteer to teach the lessons to them for a month at a time. The message is very simple--that God loves His children, and that YOU are a child of GOD! So sweet. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful church that nutures our little ones as it does....

Not much else going on around here. Preston is still not at 100% (you can kind of see the circles around his eyes--flashbacks for Nana I am sure!), but hopefully he will get to feeling better soon. Have a great week!

Up With Downs

As most of you already know, Jeff and I lost a baby girl before she was born in the Spring of 2007 to a very severe case of Downs syndrome. For this reason, and of course others, we will always hold this cause near and dear to our hearts. One of my good friends, Jana Beck, has a PRECIOUS one-year old son named Bailey Jack, and she is raising money for Up With Downs' yearly fundraiser--the Buddy Walk. This is not a sales pitch by any means, but I wanted to get the word out to as many people as possible so we can help Bailey Jack reach his goal. The link to his page is:

http://www.firstgiving.com/baileyjack

As for Preston Luke, he has had a little cold this week, and has been unusually fussy, so I am taking him in for an ear check this afternoon...keep your fingers crossed!!

Oh, and one last thing. I am going to copy Suzanne and advertise for Same Monnogramming. I ordered this t-shirt for Preston...isn't it ADORABLE?? GO TECH BULLDOGS!


Love to all!

You win some, you lose some.....

Well, it certainly was not the outcome that we all had hoped for, but Jeff and I had a great time this weekend on our trip to Auburn, AL! We really appreciated Resa keeping Preston--he's not quite ready for an away game just yet.....
It is really fun going to away games, because the crowd really gets into the game. (OK, maybe sometimes I go a little overboard!) It was also great to see friends and family at the tailgate--some we see a lot and some we don't! All in all, we are tired of being in the car but are very glad we made the trip :)
I will close with a word of advice: Make sure you know where you are headed when you leave the stadium after an Auburn game!!! Jeff and I thought we knew exactly where the car was, but we were both very wrong. Needless to say, I got my exercise that night on our LONG trek to our car!!! Travelling wouldn't be fun without things like that happening, though...

My First Sucker!!

As always, Preston is doing something ADORABLE and all I have is my phone--but hopefully you can get the idea!! For a couple of reasons, I moved Preston's 12 month check-up to today instead of Friday. Mainly, we are leaving to go to Auburn for the weekend and I wanted to make sure the onslaught of immunizations were well tolerated. Also, Preston has had a little rash on his face and neck, but Dr. Slusher did not think anything of it :)
Here come the stats: 25 lbs, 7 ounces and 31 1/4 inches!! 90th percentile for both height and weight! You all know I joke that Preston really needs to start walking because he is getting to be a LOAD! But you know I am just joking because we are so blessed to have such a healthy baby man. Oh, and speaking of healthy--his ears were ALL CLEAR! He just likes to play with them.....
After his shot experience, Mrs. Lourie asked if Preston wanted a sucker. Now, I have never given him one before, but thought he certainly deserved it--and he had NO PROBLEMS with it...other than making a mess. We got in the tub when we got home....
Hope all is well out there with all my blogging/following friends!!