Create Your Own Carny Yummy Fun!

This weekend is the Latino Fest here on post. Lots of carny rides, song and dance, and great Latino food. Of course there is always the ever present carny fav...Funnel Cake.

We love..I mean LOVE funnel cake. But at $5 a piece we usually just get 1 and everyone gets a piece. Well, today we said the heck with it and made our own. I don't have pics because well, frankly I forgot to take them and we ate the darn things before I even thought of taking pics. Sorry. ;(

But here's the recipe. If you don't have a funnel, just use a ziploc bag and cut the corner..careful..it's messy..but oh ...so...good! Your kids will love you for making this and if you let them join in they'll have tons of fun making goofy designs with the dough.

Ingredients:

* 3 eggs, beaten
* 2 cups milk
* 4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* oil for deep frying
* sifted confectioners' sugar

Preparation:
Beat eggs with milk. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder; add to eggs and milk. Beat until very smooth. Heat oil in deep fryer or deep skillet to 370°. Holding the funnel with one finger keeping the opening closed, fill with batter.
Open the end of the funnel and allow batter to run out in a stream into deep hot fat. Move funnel from center, swirling outward in a circular pattern. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer fried funnel cakes to paper towels to drain. Shake sifted confectioners' sugar over drained funnel cakes.
Makes 20 to 30 funnel cakes, depending on size.

You can add cinnamon, fruit topping, chocolate syrup, crushed oreos..whatever you want! It all tastes great on a funnel cake!

Great News!

My brother and sister-in-law are having a baby! This is their first one! Congratulations Jon and Gina! May God Bless you and your newest little one and may He grant your new family graces in abundance!

Give A Little Bit...

The other day as I was sifting through the (junk) mail I see a pretty blue catalog peeking out behind the magazine from Scouting and the insurance and credit card proposals.

I thought it might be from the Catholic Company or Ligouri Press. I love getting those. I pick it out of the rest of the junk and realize it's from Food for the Poor. Oh..ok..just another heartbreaking plea for money. I love to give but lately we've been on a tighter budget, and I hate to throw these out. This one was a little different though. Not your standard envelope with a cheap rosary or greeting cards inside. This is a beautifully done "Gift Catalog". So I start to turn the pages.

You can actually buy a truck load of food! A goat, or chickens! This is really cool I thought. I showed the kids. We are currently going through the catalog and circling what we can do each month for Food for the Poor. You can also give these gifts in someones name and there are these great gift cards inside the catalog that you can send to your friends or family letting them know you have gifted in their name.

What a beautiful Mother's Day gift. Check out Food for The Poor's gift catalog. For just a few dollars you can help out a family in need.

Crazy 8's

JMJ over at Totus Tuus tagged me for this meme. Thanks JMJ! I haven't been tagged in a while. This will be fun.

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. More House Hunting.
2. Finishing school.
3. The swimming pool.
4. Mr. Pinch's First Eucharist
5. New Life!
6. Warm sunshine.
7. Dinner out with my hubby.
8. A nice long walk on the beach.


8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Graded science papers.
2. Won the latest battle with the laundry monster
3. Helped Mr. Pinch learn about Antarctica
4. Learned about St. Rose of Lima with Pannini
5. Marveled at the energy the kids have.
6. Interviewed for a managers course with my employer
7. Refused the counter offer on the house we were looking at
8. Had a great night at work.

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Build the home of our dreams.
2. Win the HGTV dream home (I am obsessing about "homes" now..help!!!)
3. High school Math.
4. Get more exercise
5. Visit my friends up north.
6. Paint or draw
7. Inspire others to join our choir at church
8. Attend Adoration more often.

8 Shows I Watch
1. Survivor
2. Lost
3. Hell's Kitchen
4. American Idol (only if it's been recorded)
5. Heroes
6. Food Network Challenge
7. The Biggest Loser
8. Fox News

8 tags - Thanks to all my followers! Here are my tags:

Amy at Our Daily Blessing
Rita at Faith of a Convert
Mom E at Conservamom
Nancy at Be Not Afraid
Kimberly at Our God is An Awesome God
Ellie at Ellie Great
SAHMinIL at My Adventures into Christian Homeschooling
Mrs. Jill O. at Standing Up for Life

Have fun ladies!

Skinny Dude vs. Buff Dude

My boys just came in from their morning run. Sweaty and smelly, they just ran a mile. They are working on their personal fitness merit badge. They must keep a daily exercise log and every two weeks perform a fitness test to gauge improvement.

They are logging a mile run, sit ups, push ups and pull ups. I haven't done all that since the Navy. Truth be told, I've never been able to do one pull up let alone pull ups (plural). They are very competitive. One is really good at push ups, the other not so much. The other is good at pull ups, the other one not so much. Instead of encouraging one another they tend to make these really biting comments. I can't stand to listen to it, but for some reason it seems to motivate them. I don't get it.

My oldest (he calls himself The Chosen One), he just says to me that if he gets totally ripped I must promise to buy him tank tops and take him to the beach so he can bench press in front of the girls.

To give you a picture here..The Chosen One is all bones. He's nearly 6 ft/141 lbs and not an ounce of fat on him. He looks a bit like the skinny dude from that advertisement on the back of the comic book. You know the one where the buff dude kicks sand in the face of the skinny dude and then skinny dude goes and gets buff and comes back to impress the ladies and squish buff dude. That's my Chosen One.

Well, I best get to startin' my day. Blessings!

It Seems As If....

my life is revolving around a house purchase right now. All of a sudden we are making life decisions.

I sorta like just being "drifters", living in whatever home the military provides us when we move every few years. Thinking of settling down is scary for a girl who has never lived longer than 7 years in one place her entire life.

I have been on an emotional roller coaster..I really want this! Can we afford this? They'll never accept our offer! What if they DO accept our offer?!?! How much is a home inspection? What is PMI? If it's anything like PMS, get me outta here! And on and on.

Then...THEN!!! I'm driving around town and I see another house that I simply loved from the curb. Ugh. My stomach can't take this wild ride. I am going to look at this one today. I secretly hope it's awful. I just don't know what I would do if this is just as nice as the other one. My husband will slap his head in exasperation and ban me from calling my realtor to look at more houses. Even the kids are confused and exasperated at my lack of commitment to one house. All they want is their own rooms. :)

So..here we are..I am anxiously awaiting the phone call that will get me rolling toward the new showing. The kids have taken an extended lunch and I've let them linger too long. Time to get back on task and forget about houses for awhile. If that's even remotely possible.

More on the home...

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. It's been crazy around here. We are still waiting to hear from the relocation company. I have absolutely no idea how long that will take. As a matter of fact, while we've been waiting, I have found at least 3 other properties I want to take a serious look at.

I am waiting to hear from my realtor on setting up appointments and numerous questions I've emailed her about this property we have offered on. This house buying thing is not for the faint of heart.

I'll keep you posted! Thanks for all your prayers! Please don't stop.
Blessings to all!

On Buying a Home

This is the home we are currently considering buying. We will be putting in an offer today. There is another offer on this home as well. We are not sure if our offer will stand, but we have put it in God's hands at this point. If it is His will than all will be well.

Keep us in your prayers this week as we submit our offer. If the Lord deems it to be than our offer will be accepted. If it is not His will than it won't be accepted. We are okay with that, but man! I really like this house!

Father, we want this house. We want this house if You want it for us. If this home will be the place that You desire us to raise our family than Your will be done. Thank you in advance for your abundant blessings and answering of our prayer.

On Air Travel

I just got off the phone with my little brother. He had just arrived in Atlanta for a class he is taking at the CDC. I laughed so hard I had to share this.

He was scheduled to leave from BWI at 2:30 this afternoon. Unfortunately for him and many others, all flights into Atlanta were delayed a minimum of 2 hours due to foul weather. Already through the gate, his wife on her way home, he spent 4 hours in BWI. Finally on the plane, an Air Tran "jet", the fun began. This is how he relayed it..."it was like flying on a jet from munchkin land," the seat had a butt print on it that didn't fit any normal humans derriere and the seat back was about 4 inches too narrow. Therefore, his shoulders stuck out in the aisle to be knocked by the flight attendant on each pass. When he reclined the seat it made an audible "pop" and actually realigned his spine in a very unnatural position.

I asked him if they at least provided a free snack. "Oh, Yes," he replied. "Gourmet mini pretzels. Each pretzel was about the size of my thumbnail. The back of the package stated 'How To Eat Gourmet Mini Pretzels: Open bag, insert pretzel in mouth, when you feel the crunch think about how much money you've saved flying Air Tran'"

He's safely and thankfully, comfortably installed in his hotel- which, by the way, doesn't even have the Discovery channel :) - and ready to get some rest. He's still laughing about his experience flying Air Tran and so am I.

I just had to share that.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all!

From Margie

Margie, my guest blogger is back. Here's her input for today, Holy Saturday.

Adam and Eve enjoyed the company of God, spoke with Him, worked with Him and tended His Garden yet, even though the had that unimaginable gift of walking with God they disobeyed Him and were expelled from the Garden. Expelled into the harsh world without chance of returning to the Garden or having the same relationship with Elohim. I think God was hurt deeply by their decision. He knew they needed a way to get back to Him. The key to the gates of the Garden.

The disciples and the people of Jerusalem experienced Jesus first hand. They spoke with Him, watched Him work miracles, loved Him and were loved by Him. Yet did they truly understand His mission and the significance of what He was about to do for all us? When Jesus died the world was again without Savior and in the dark. We were alone with no chance of redemption. The time alone is significant because it hearkens back to the time when Adam and Eve were expelled and struggling to grasp the consequences of their actions.

Jesus came to eradicate sin and re-open the gates to Garden for all of us. Take a moment today to reflect on the emptiness of this time. The seperation from God and the possibility of never hearing His voice in your life again. The resurrection will be much sweeter.

On The Tee on Holy Thursday

My oldest is on his way to the Masters today. Opening day! He is so excited. His hope is to see Tiger Woods and Gary Player. This is Players' last year at the Masters. He's the oldest golfer on the tournament, at 70 years old. He's also the golfer to have played the most consecutive Masters, 16 years in a row. Yet, he's never won the green jacket. Good Luck Gary! Then there's the Shark, Greg Norman. He's always one to watch.

Of course today is Holy Thursday. We will go to Mass tonight at 7 pm. Tomorrow I will cantor the Good Friday service. I have to learn the music today. The original cantor is ill and won't be able to make it. We have an excellent choir director and she has helped me considerably. Easter Sunday my family is singing a civil war rendition of Amazing Grace for the opening hymn. My middle daughter is soloing on the first and last verse. In practice, she has done a great job! Keep her in your prayers that The Holy Spirit will keep her nerves at bay on Sunday.

I love hearing my family harmonize together and sing to the Lord. It is wonderful to my ears. I hope He thinks so too! ;)

On another note, I received a response from All, remember the Apprentice episode that I blogged on? Well, the response was directed at the videos the contestants made and made no mention of the executive and her slip up. I am pleased that they responded quickly, even if they did not address the real problem. Perhaps they did behind the scenes.

This week we have decided to tye dye shirts instead of dyeing eggs. The kids are looking forward to the art project and so am I. I am not a fan of tye dye but the kids love it. It will be interesting to see the designs and colors they choose.

Off to get some more coffee and get my day started. The Lord has provided a beautiful day for us today, high 70's this afternoon. May He bless all of you in abundance and for those of you who will attend Mass on this anniversary of the Last Supper and the ordination of the first priests of the Church, may He richly bless you as you receive Him in His Precious Body and Precious Blood.

Cabrillo State Park San Diego

My sister had a great friend snap some pictures for us while we were on vacation. Here's one.



You can check out Aaron's wedding work at IHeartAS. Thanks Aaron. You did a wonderful job! Love it!

Rainy Days and Mondays

Are not getting me down today! We had a good squall go through this morning (it was so windy the rain was sideways!). There is the promise of sun behind the few clouds that remain and that is all I need to keep on truckin'!

I have been working since I woke up this morning. I had to complete inventory for the theater where I work. This was due on March 31. I am in the process of taking over the supervisor job and have been playing catch up. Lots to learn and much to do.

The kids are lagging this morning. Got up late, lingering over breakfast..already asking if they can minimize their school days. Absolutely not. My oldest, of course, always wants a day off. He will get one on Thursday as my hubby's friend at work has offered to take him to the Masters. He's very excited to go, but he's got to get his work done first. I know..mom is such a downer.:)

Last night, watching the Celebrity Apprentice, I was so highly offended! They contestants had to create a viral video for All Small & Mighty.

When asked what the target demographic of their product was, the female executive says this "Women age 25 and up with children. Not mom's." She went on to describe these women as "internet savvy". Uh..excuse me? Did I hear that right? Did she just say that "mom's" are not internet savvy? Did she just imply that "mom's" are somehow less than "women with children". I was highly offended at the statements made about that last night. It was as if you are a "mom" you are dumb and have no identity. But if you are a "woman with children" you are smart and savvy. What is a "woman with children" if not a "mom"? It made no sense and it was very offensive.

I am going to write a letter to the company expressing my exception to her statements and encourage you to do the same. You can do this at their website All-laundry.com.

I am also going to refrain from buying their products at this time. I believe they should issue a public apology to all "mom's".

What do you think? Am I off my rocker? Would you have found this offensive?
You can view the episode at NBC's website for The Celebrity Apprentice.

Mr. Pinch Goes To Parris Island

Well, okay, not the real Parris Island, but she is on her way to Young Marine bootcamp this morning. Her first day. She is so excited! She looks so cute in her red shorts and white t-shirt. Her hair is in a neat bun.

She keeps yelling "Semper Five delis"! The other kids are constantly correcting her, "Semper Fidelis"! They yell back.

I am not going with her. Honestly, I can't bear to watch her get yelled at. My husband says "You yell at her all the time..what's the difference?" He smiles. It just IS! She's my baby..my little one..she's just too darn cute to yell at. Ach!..what if she cries..I'd go to pieces.

Okay, okay. She's gone. Nothing to do about it now. She can fend for herself! She's strong! She's ready. She's just 8!

I love these kids..I love the way they have rallied around her to help her memorize the Young Marine obligation, to do facing movements, stand at attention and sing The National Anthem. She is learning love of her country, pride in service and self-respect. Being a military family it's hard not to be patriotic. I still get goose bumps when I stand for The National Anthem. We stand for the National Anthem, even when we hear it on T.V. It's our anthem. It's our country.

I remember very clearly, the first time I had to salute the flag during my own bootcamp. It was very early, 5 am. We were on the grinder at Naval Training Center Orlando, in formation. 80 girls. We were not yet women. The National Anthem comes over the loudspeaker and the flag begins to rise up into the morning sky. I remember being filled with so much emotion it brought tears to my eyes.

I am very proud to have served my country. I am very proud to support my husband as he heads off every day to do his best to protect it. My father, mother, sister and brother, have all taken on the responsibility of protecting this great nation.

Now, watching my children, I am very proud of them. They are learning what it means to be patriotic. To love their country. To make a personal choice to never bring disgrace or dishonor on their God, their country and it's flag, their parents or themselves.

God Bless America! And my children too!

St. Josemaria & My wishlist

So lately I have been calling on our Lord for everything under the sun. :) I feel like a kid again, in that, back then I had no limits to my wants and desires and frequently asked Him for all of it. Including a million dollars! As I got older I began to feel like maybe I was using him as one would use a genie in a lamp. "Here, God, this is what I want, grant it for me".

So I began to shy away from asking Him for what I wanted. I note here, that was to my detriment.

Then I read a book called Left to Tell. A woman going through the Rwandan genocide who relied wholly on God during her time of captivity. She would often tell Jesus what she wanted and thank Him in advance. I thought that was kinda weird, too forward, not reverent and definitely not something I would do.

Then...I realized one day, as I was praying, I was doing it. I thanked God for the blessings in my life and for any future blessings and graces He would bestow upon me and my family. Umm..okay..so let's go one step further then. I'll just sorta ask Him, in a roundabout way..(and I was always concerned about how I asked..don't want to make Him mad, ya know?)..

Then last night I read this by St. Josemaria Escriva:

"Be more daring still, and whenever you need anything, mindful always of the "fiat" - "Your will be done" - don't ask, tell him: "Jesus, I want this or that". For that's the way children ask." #403 The Way

I love the way He works. He always answers my questions.

My baby is growing up...

today she will receive the sacrament of First Reconciliation. She chose this day and is looking forward to it. It is a blessing to know that she is not scared or unwilling. A bit nervous maybe..she keeps asking me what to do if she forgets something :).

She is best friends with St. Therese, St. Bernadette and St. Cecilia. I am confident that they will be there with her.

Please keep her(aka: Mr. Pinch) in your prayers today.

Blessings to all!

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