Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you all had a *marvelous* weekend.

Our Memorial Day weekend typically involves cooking out every night, killing ourselves running a 5k, and swimming at the pool or the lake.

This year, we had pretty much the same plans....until the hubby found a car that tickled his fancy in Miami, FL.

So, next thing I know, we are on a plane to Miami for the weekend with the kids in Tuscaloosa with my mom.

We stayed until Monday and then drove home.

I have to say, I am not super bummed about missing the 5k. I hadn't trained properly and it was a whopping 95 degrees outside. All of the runners that I talked to said it was the worst ever.

I am very thankful to have the opportunity to spend the weekend with my husband for some much needed r&r and I am just as thankful for the men and women who serve/have served to protect us.

Super Yummy Delicious Coffee Punch

So, last weekend I threw a Lingerie Shower on Friday, a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower on Saturday, and a Tball Party on Sunday.

I think I have crossed the line to completely crazy.

It was good though because I cleaned the house once and got all of the entertaining done in ONE WEEKEND!

(Pics of the parties to come, once they magically jump off of my camera and on to the computer)

I wanted to share a recipe that I used for the Pampered Chef bridal shower.

We had it at 11:00 am so I chose to serve brunch.

I had mini quiche, chicken salad crossiants, fruit salsa and cinnamon chips, and a  veggie tray. I also put out the leftover "Friday Pasta" from the night before.

(More on that later.)

I decided to use one of Ms. Fielder's (Brett's mom) recipe for coffee punch at the brunch. It was so good and I learned that it needs to be doubled because we were scraping the bottom of the punch bowl.

(Think Wendy's frosty with coffee....yumm-o)

Teri Fielder's Coffee Punch

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup instant decaf coffee (Folgers)

**Mix these together and refrigerate for a few hours**

2 quarts of milk (i used 2%)

1 quart of vanilla ice cream

1 quart of chocolate ice cream

***about 15 minutes prior to serving add milk, ice creams, and coffee mixture to punch bowl***

Remember, I would reccomend doubleing this if you plan on serving more than about 10 people because it is very addicting. Also, don't freak if the ice cream is clumpy when you combine everything. Just use a potato masher and get most of the clumps out. You could also soften the ice cream for about 15 minutes prior to combining ingredients.



Two Month Summary...

I think it has been an eternity since I last posted and for that I am an enormous loser.

So much has happened lately so this will just be a giant update, with a few pics.

Aubree had a great softball season, which is now over.

Our little LadyBugs were regular season champions!!!

Here are some pics of the next Olympic softball player.

Check out that face--She means serious business!!!

Aubree had a great time this season, made lots of new friends, and learned A LOT!

We are thankful for a knowledgeable patient coach.

****

Next, we had the tornadoes. If y'all don't know about the crazy severe weather then you must have been living under a rock.

April 27, 2011 our state was hammered with deadly storms that killed hundreds of people and one of the deadliest hit less than 200 yards from us.

We were very lucky and only had roof damage and scattered lawn and garden equipment but many were not so lucky.

My boss, for example, lost everything.

They lived in a hotel for two weeks and thankfully, are now in an apartment.

Our entire county and most of the northern part of the state were without power for a week. We did fine though. We combined resources and lived with my in-laws.

They had a big generator and a gas water heater (thank the good Lord).

We kept a generator going at our house to try and keep our freezers cold and our neighbors kept watch on it and kept gas in it in exchange for freezer space.

We ate SO GOOD during our natural disaster vacay....we grilled breakfasts of pancakes and eggs...dinners of pork loin, venison, and veggies - and smoked a ham and a turkey....we even made spaghetti and a fruit cobbler on the grill.

Ham/Pineapple Kabobs, Pork Tenderloin, Ribs, Corn, Twice Baked Potatoes (that I had frozen), and Mac and Cheese

The boys spent the days driving to TN for generator gas, doing relief work, and cleaning up Zach's parents property while I played with Aubree and Griffin and kept them busy. We tried potty training Griffin during our week at home but he was not interested at all.

 We had our friends and family over for hot showers and hot meals since we were the lucky ones with the gas heater.

Here are some of the photos we took:

 

Zach's expression pretty much sums up the helpless feeling we all had.

All of the trees in this photo are part of Zach's family's land. This is how close the monster came to us. Our future home site is just below and to the right of the water tower that you see on the left.

Our neighbors to the south in Tuscaloosa were hit the hardest and had the most deaths- partly because it hit so close to the University of Alabama campus and the people in the 2nd and 3rd story apartments didn't seek shelter elsewhere. If you haven't read THIS ARTICLE from Sports Illustrated, I highly reccomend that you take a moment and do so.

Have some tissues handy.

On a much happier note, Zach's sister and soon-to-be brother in law graduated college.

It was also Meredith's Birthday so the Fielder family invited us over for a barbeque in celebration of the graduates and her birthday. We had a wonderful time.

Zach and I decided to leave Arkansas Saturday after the graduation and drive to Memphis to stay the night. We wanted to take the kids to the Memphis Zoo on Sunday. Our camera battery died on us but we got just a few photos with the trusty iPhone.

We had a great time at the Zoo and I would highly reccomend that if you find yourself in Memphis that you pay them a visit.

I know I have missed a lot but these are just some of the high (and low) points of our life over the last several weeks. I will do my best to try to update more!