This has been one CRAZY weekend! My Aunt Mary and cousins Mel, Jeremiah, David and Courtney spent the night Saturday after a fun time swimming and staying up late (some didn't crash til' 4:00am) playing games and hanging out. We went to sleep in a very chilly townhome (we like it that way), only to wake to it being 84 degrees inside! My aunt dragged herself into the living room, scratching her sleepy head asking if the a.c. had broke. IT HAD. Will's crib monitor was registering at 81...and the poor boy was sweatin' big time.
So we called the repair man in, and he fixed that bad boy up. It was wonderful to come home from a church event on Sunday to a very breezy home again.
Until last night, that is.
My parents were over for a visit when all of our smoke alarms went off around 9:00 pm. We smelled a very strong electrical fire smell, and smoke was filling our home. Billy turned our A.C. off and I rushed outside to get our son out of that stinky place. I banged on our neighbors door, because we couldn't find fire anywhere...but they wouldn't answer. It occured to us that we actually hadn't heard them (and believe me, those guitar hero boys can ALWAYS BE HEARD) for a few days....
I called 911.
They sent 2 firetrucks, but only 1 could get through our gate! LOL! So the other stood on standby. About 3 firemen ran into our home, and couldn't find fire anywhere. Where was this smoke coming from? and the smell?
They found a hotspot of 400 degrees in our guest bath ceiling! It was coming from the newly fixed Air Conditioner! The firemen said we did the right thing in calling them. Even though there wasn't an active fire, if Billy hadn't turned it off, it could have eventually sparked and started one! Thank God for his wisdom in that!
They turned our breaker off so the maintenance men could replace our whole unit. We couldn't stay home last night, because of the heat or the smell, so we came home with my parents. I'm sure they were really "put out" by their grandson staying the night :) Thankfully, Will ended up sleeping on my shoulder through the whole ordeal.
I think the hardest part about leaving was walking out the door, wondering if it would happen again while we were away. Then I remembered an old saying my cousin Danyne used to say...
"It's all gonna' burn!"
But, we'd really rather it not happen today if possible!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ants in... Will's pants?!
So about a week ago, my hubby, son and I were on our way out of the church parking lot. It was a BURNING HOT summer day, and as usual, we cranked the a.c full blast. All of a sudden we realized there were hundreds of ANTS flying in to our car through our air vents! They were ALL OVER THE PLACE....our arms, legs, clothing, seats, dash, doors, you name it! We were freaking out, and Billy was trying to keep his eyes on the road while I smashed each little black ant I could possibly track down. Poor little ant kamikazes were flying into their doom. It was like something from a horror movie or something! I was mostly concerned the ants could be tracking down the sweet and innocent baby boy in my back seat, so as any normal parent would, I screamed for us to pull over and see where these crazy ants were coming from.
We pulled into a parking lot nearby, and watched as they poured out of the car onto the hot pavement...finding some other tasty treat left from the last car parked there. But we still weren't able to keep all of them from coming back in.
It was CRAZY!
Later that afternoon we went through a professional car wash, hoping it would clean out the carriage and hopefully vacuum up any remaining ants. We got back in our car only to find the residual ants left behind, sticking with every step to our freshly Armor-All'd car like fighting soldiers dragging their wounded bodies in a swamp. To this day (about 10 days later) we still have a serious problem when we turn the air up. We have no idea how to rid our a.c. system of these critters.
I've only found 2 of the castaways on Will's car seat, however, Monday afternoon I saw several sticking to a few different outfit options in his closet. I looked closer only to realize they were trailing in the closet now! What is this all about?! Then I found a few crawling on my arm in my bed!
We immediately told the complex manager to call Pest Control, and the guy came out yesterday.
I had spotted a dirt pile behind our rocking chair, very close to Will's bed...and I didn't want to mess around. The pest guy said they were breeding under our carpet there under the window seal! He sprayed inside and out, and we haven't seen any signs of live ones in our room since late last night.
I'm going to try and rest tonight without worrying about those crazy little ants that seem to have infested our world like nobody's business lately.
We pulled into a parking lot nearby, and watched as they poured out of the car onto the hot pavement...finding some other tasty treat left from the last car parked there. But we still weren't able to keep all of them from coming back in.
It was CRAZY!
Later that afternoon we went through a professional car wash, hoping it would clean out the carriage and hopefully vacuum up any remaining ants. We got back in our car only to find the residual ants left behind, sticking with every step to our freshly Armor-All'd car like fighting soldiers dragging their wounded bodies in a swamp. To this day (about 10 days later) we still have a serious problem when we turn the air up. We have no idea how to rid our a.c. system of these critters.
I've only found 2 of the castaways on Will's car seat, however, Monday afternoon I saw several sticking to a few different outfit options in his closet. I looked closer only to realize they were trailing in the closet now! What is this all about?! Then I found a few crawling on my arm in my bed!
We immediately told the complex manager to call Pest Control, and the guy came out yesterday.
I had spotted a dirt pile behind our rocking chair, very close to Will's bed...and I didn't want to mess around. The pest guy said they were breeding under our carpet there under the window seal! He sprayed inside and out, and we haven't seen any signs of live ones in our room since late last night.
I'm going to try and rest tonight without worrying about those crazy little ants that seem to have infested our world like nobody's business lately.
Friday, June 5, 2009
YUM!
Sometimes I come across recipes that really stick with me and tonight was no exception :) I thought I'd share it with you all. It's one of those "1 dish meals" and I've made a version of it a few times before, but this was by far my fave.
It's pretty close to Sunny Anderson's (food network) "Shepherds Pie with Mushroom Onion Gravy", but I'll post exactly what I did with it.
2 lbs russet potatoes, washed and cut into chunks (I like the peels on)
1 Tbl dry minced garlic, or 1 clove smashed
Salt (I like Kosher)
6 Tbl butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 lb ground beef
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Tbl tomato paste
1/4 cup beef broth
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 zuchinni, julienned
2 carrots, julienned or about 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots cut in half
8 oz. corn
1 tsp Paprika,
16 oz. cheddar, shredded
Mushroom-Onion gravy (recipe below)
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes and garlic with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add some salt and bring to boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-high and cook unitl fork tender, about 15 min. Drain and return to pan, and mash together with 3 Tbl butter and the heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper (and I added parsley for color and a dash of cayenne pepper) and set aside.
In a large pan on medium-high heat combine 1 Tbl butter and 1 Tbl oil. When butter has melted, add beef, worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until meat is brown. Stir in tomato paste and saute for a few minutes. Add beef stock and bring to a simmer. Place meat in a casserole dish and set aside.
In the same pan, add remaining butter and 1 Tbl oil and saute onions until almost tender.
Add corn, zucchini, carrots and paprika. Cook until tender, about 1o min. Remove from heat and mix with meat in casserole dish.
Place a very light layer of the cheese and then cover with mashed potatoes, smoothing out to the edge with a spatula. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese across top and place in oven until cheese has a nice texture, and potatoes are brown around the edges, about 30 minutes. Serve with Mushroom Onion gravy.
Mushroom Onion Gravy:
1/4 onion, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbl oil
3 Tbl flour
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
Salt and cracked pepper
In the same saucepan over medium heat, saute onions and mushrooms in oil until tender and mushrooms release their moisture, about 5 min. Add flour and stir to evenly coat. Slowly whisk in wine and broth. Simmer until thickened and season with salt and pepper, to taste. This is a very rich reduction, and a little goes a long way, but you will be surprised how much it really pops all the flavors!
I served this with a romaine salad that had cucumbers, grape tomotoes, red onion, avacado, walnuts, sweet almond slivers and diced celery with Ranch. And SWEET TEA, of course :)
It's pretty close to Sunny Anderson's (food network) "Shepherds Pie with Mushroom Onion Gravy", but I'll post exactly what I did with it.
2 lbs russet potatoes, washed and cut into chunks (I like the peels on)
1 Tbl dry minced garlic, or 1 clove smashed
Salt (I like Kosher)
6 Tbl butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 lb ground beef
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Tbl tomato paste
1/4 cup beef broth
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1 zuchinni, julienned
2 carrots, julienned or about 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots cut in half
8 oz. corn
1 tsp Paprika,
16 oz. cheddar, shredded
Mushroom-Onion gravy (recipe below)
Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes and garlic with enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add some salt and bring to boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-high and cook unitl fork tender, about 15 min. Drain and return to pan, and mash together with 3 Tbl butter and the heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper (and I added parsley for color and a dash of cayenne pepper) and set aside.
In a large pan on medium-high heat combine 1 Tbl butter and 1 Tbl oil. When butter has melted, add beef, worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until meat is brown. Stir in tomato paste and saute for a few minutes. Add beef stock and bring to a simmer. Place meat in a casserole dish and set aside.
In the same pan, add remaining butter and 1 Tbl oil and saute onions until almost tender.
Add corn, zucchini, carrots and paprika. Cook until tender, about 1o min. Remove from heat and mix with meat in casserole dish.
Place a very light layer of the cheese and then cover with mashed potatoes, smoothing out to the edge with a spatula. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese across top and place in oven until cheese has a nice texture, and potatoes are brown around the edges, about 30 minutes. Serve with Mushroom Onion gravy.
Mushroom Onion Gravy:
1/4 onion, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbl oil
3 Tbl flour
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef broth
Salt and cracked pepper
In the same saucepan over medium heat, saute onions and mushrooms in oil until tender and mushrooms release their moisture, about 5 min. Add flour and stir to evenly coat. Slowly whisk in wine and broth. Simmer until thickened and season with salt and pepper, to taste. This is a very rich reduction, and a little goes a long way, but you will be surprised how much it really pops all the flavors!
I served this with a romaine salad that had cucumbers, grape tomotoes, red onion, avacado, walnuts, sweet almond slivers and diced celery with Ranch. And SWEET TEA, of course :)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Fave's of the Week
UPDATED: Sorry in the midst of my editing, I accidentally deleted this image the first time... here's the little man reading :)
We took Will in for a checkup today. He's 8lbs 14 oz and 22" long :) The doc says he looks great, and is developmentally right on track. He's been rolling over, reaching for toys, putting everything to his mouth, holding his head pretty steady, doing his "push ups" on his tummy and "tracking" everything around him.
He loves a little elephant his Nana got him (see pic above he's got the ear) and lovey Aunt Mary made him when he's getting sleepy. Can you see his blue eyes??! We can't figure that out! It really seems like he may keep those baby blues and we are thrilled about it!
He's really started laughing more (especially when you put his feet up to his face-weird) and smiles so much at people and his toys and mirrors. He has a lot of different faces and it seems like he comes up with a new face or sound all the time. I can't believe how much he's already grown up.
We love him so much and I'm really glad we get to keep him <3<3<3<3<3>
We bought him a bumbo seat this week, and he looks so funny and really tiny and newborn looking which is so weird because he can sit up strong in it. I was playing "teacher" and he got a "head start" looking at flashcards and learning things, lol.
Remember his stuffed Monkey(from the pic of his first night home?!)...we'll he's finally bigger than it! LOL! 
We took him out to the pool for the first time and the new swimsuit and flip flops from Grammy were adorable on his feet! He just "laid out" on the blanket under the shade chilling out like a big boy.
We took Will in for a checkup today. He's 8lbs 14 oz and 22" long :) The doc says he looks great, and is developmentally right on track. He's been rolling over, reaching for toys, putting everything to his mouth, holding his head pretty steady, doing his "push ups" on his tummy and "tracking" everything around him.He loves a little elephant his Nana got him (see pic above he's got the ear) and lovey Aunt Mary made him when he's getting sleepy. Can you see his blue eyes??! We can't figure that out! It really seems like he may keep those baby blues and we are thrilled about it!
He's really started laughing more (especially when you put his feet up to his face-weird) and smiles so much at people and his toys and mirrors. He has a lot of different faces and it seems like he comes up with a new face or sound all the time. I can't believe how much he's already grown up.
We love him so much and I'm really glad we get to keep him <3<3<3<3<3>
We bought him a bumbo seat this week, and he looks so funny and really tiny and newborn looking which is so weird because he can sit up strong in it. I was playing "teacher" and he got a "head start" looking at flashcards and learning things, lol.
Remember his stuffed Monkey(from the pic of his first night home?!)...we'll he's finally bigger than it! LOL! 
We took him out to the pool for the first time and the new swimsuit and flip flops from Grammy were adorable on his feet! He just "laid out" on the blanket under the shade chilling out like a big boy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
