Baby Gray/family day/fun/swimming

Memorable Memorial Day

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Today was such a fun day! 

Baby Gray and I met Pops and Mr. Gray for lunch in our hometown. Baby Gray was the star of the show in the restaurant. We had so many people come over to speak to us or comment on how cute he was (I happen to think he’s cute, too). He had the tables around us cracking up as he squealed for more food in between bites. He’s eating up a storm now, by the way. Anything and everything. As fast as I can get it in his mouth.

After lunch, we did a little swimming. Baby Gray had his first swimming experience the weekend of MK’s graduation (the photos from that weekend are a whole ‘nother story; one day I’ll actually write about that). Last time we swam, Baby Gray was super tired and didn’t really enjoy it. 

This time he had much more fun until I put on his sunglasses, which he didn’t really care for. He played with his ball, splashed, kicked, and had a great time!


Baby Gray was having so much fun when Mr. Gray was throwing him!  I hated that I didn’t have the camera ready for the first few. 

We were less than a block away from the pool when I looked in my mirror and saw Baby Gray was crashed. He slept all the way home, and then some. What a sweet, sleepy boy!

cookies/grocery store

Proceed with Caution

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A word of warning: the cookies I am about to post are GOOD. So good, in fact, that I bought them Monday and by Tuesday evening they were gone. Nevermind the fact that I didn’t open them until Tuesday evening and Mr. Gray only had two. I hope I can fight the urge to buy the other flavor.

Oh, Pepperidge Farm, you’ve done it again. As if I don’t love Milano cookies enough. These also come in the classic Milano “white” cookie with this meltaway center. I will avoid this aisle Monday in hopes that I can keep from purchasing those. 
Don’t say I didn’t warn you… 

Baby Gray/teeth/teething

Gummy Surprise

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Baby Gray started teething December 31st. I remember it specifically because he started fussing, drooling, chewing on anything he could get his hands on, and being slightly unpleasant the morning we needed to leave for Aunt B’s rehearsal dinner. 

Fast forward to our four-month doctor’s appointment, and Dr. Miller was pretty certain this little dude would be cutting some teeth any time in the near future (now past). He continued to gnaw on things and drool all over everywhere. Still no teeth. 

This weekend, Baby Gray slept until at least 7:00 every morning and took a few extra naps throughout the day. Yesterday, he slept until 7:45, and he was extra-clingy throughout the morning. Just out of curiosity, I ran my finger along his bottom gum–sure enough, there is one little, tiny, Baby-Gray-sized tooth starting to poke out! 

You can’t see it in his gummy smile yet, but it’s there–just shy of his eight-month birthday! Happy Tooth Day, Baby Gray! Even though it was really yesterday…
Baby Gray/Idaho/single/trip

One is the Loneliest Number

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Last week, Mr. Gray went to Idaho to see his aunt & uncle. They life a hop, skip, and a jump from the Canadian border. He has wanted to go see them for a while, but it has just never worked out. When he finished classes this semester (he’s back in school working on his MBA) he had some down time and decided that would be a good place to sneak in a trip north.
He and a friend flew into Spokane, Washington; they rented a car and drove the remaining three hours to his aunt & uncle’s place. While Mr. Gray, et al hung out in Idaho, Baby Gray and I held down the fort here.
By held down the fort, I mean I was bored out of my mind from Saturday through Wednesday. While Mr. Gray went to Canada, I paid some bills; he ate lots of home-cooked meals, I avoided cooking so I didn’t have a bunch of leftovers just for me. I purposefully planned things to do during the day, but it’s lonely in the evenings when you’re not used to being alone (it’s probably lonely even if you are used to being alone).

I definitely developed an appreciation for single parents. It is very different to have to do everything 100% on your own; even when you’re home all day but have help at night, you get a break. Mr. Gray does a ton when he gets home after work. I have always known that, but I really realized it after last week. Silly things happened all week: I didn’t get the trash to the curb on time (Mr. Gray does that); I made way too many videos of Baby Gray and sent them to all our friends and family; I played on the computer or (gasp) watched TV until the wee hours of the night because I was afraid to go to sleep alone.

I’m so grateful Mr. Gray got to go to Idaho. He works so hard, and he deserves to lay low for a little while. I’m also very grateful he’s home.
birthday/cake/family/trip/weekend

Oh, What Fun!

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This weekend was a whirlwind! We had a surprise 60th birthday party for Aunt Cookie, MK’s graduation, MK’s birthday/graduation festivities, MK’s graduation dinner, and Baby Gray’s dedication is tonight! Whew! 

I haven’t gotten to upload photos yet. I was uploading photos from Mr. Gray’s trip to Idaho (more on that later) before we left, and I forgot to take my two gig camera card with us to Austin. So, all our photos from the weekend are spread out over tons of smaller cards that kept filling up too quickly! Ugh. I am glad we had the small cards, though; it’s better than no photos!

The weekend was wonderful! We stayed at the Lost Parrot Cabins on Lake Travis. They were so clean; the saltillo tile didn’t feel gritty at all on my feet! I would love to know how they clean that floor! My tile definitely does not feel like that. The cabins were all decorated so funky and fun! I really enjoyed our visit–plus we were in GREAT company! 
Photos, some cake trivia, and more to come! 
brownies/Recipes

Fight with the Bites

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Friday afternoon, I was making brownie bites for Aunt B’s graduation party. I am good at baking. I love to bake. Friday afternoon was not my best day in the kitchen. 

I knew before I ever put this batch in the oven that they were going to be way too tall, and sure enough, they were! Ugh. I managed to salvage a few, but most of this batch was too tall. I switched to a smaller scoop to do the second batch.
 This batch came out the perfect height! They were wonderful. Just as I was about to post the photo and something cocky on Twitter, I got ready to invert them onto a cooling rack. Every one of them fell through the wire rack and got sliced to pieces! UGH! 

At that point, I stopped taking photos. I was frustrated. I have never had this much trouble. The next batch came out looking very porous and sponge-y. Ugh, again. The final batch came out looking much better. They were about the right height, they were the correct consistency, but they had rounded tops for some reason. They didn’t flatten as they baked. 

I made 96 brownie bites in all. I was able to use about 75 or 80. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I have never been so frustrated in the kitchen.

For those who are wondering, I use a brownie mix and modify it some. I have tried various recipes for homemade brownies, and I don’t like any of them as well as using my variation on Duncan Hines Chewy Brownies (I do it differently depending on what I’m doing with them; let me know if you want specifics).
meal plan/pasta/Recipes

Keep It Simple

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Last night I needed a quick and easy dinner solution. I surveyed my ingredient options and quickly settled it. I love pasta dishes, so I dumped a can of petite diced tomatoes, some baby carrots, and broccoli in a skillet. I covered the veggies and cooked them on medium-high. Once they were steaming, I added some garlic basil linguine and continued to steam it until the pasta was tender. 

Overall, it maybe took me ten minutes to create, and it was really delicious. With more time and preparation, I could have used the Italian diced tomatoes with plain pasta for another variation. 

I was lucky I had all those ingredients on a Sunday. Since I grocery shop on Mondays, the kitchen is pretty bare by Sunday if I haven’t built it into my meal plan. The only reason I had what I did was because I had leftovers from Aunt B’s graduation party Saturday evening. Thank goodness for that!
Baby Gray/firsts/trip/zoo

Zippity Zoo Da

Posted on by Mrs Gray / 2 Comments
Put a check mark next to “visit the zoo” for Baby Gray! He’s added the zoo to his list of firsts. 

We swung through New Braunfels to pick up MommaBranam and BB (thanks for inviting us). We got to San Antonio while the weather was still cool, albeit muggy and humid. The slightly cooler weather made the animals a little more chipper than they are in the hot Texas afternoons. The boys were ready to roll when we got there. BB was telling us what kinds of animals he saw while Baby Gray played with his keys and links. 

My favorite animal is the okapi. San Antonio has two: one is in a high-traffic area (it’s the prettier of the two) and the other is farther back. I couldn’t get a photo of the pretty one; too many people were crowded around when we came by. Baby Gray loved playing with his keys and links near the okapi pen (and everywhere else). Baby Gray did like the fish we saw. He saw some below him from a deck and some in aquariums as we walked through exhibits. He enjoyed both, and it was really the only time any of the animals caught his eye. As alert as he has been lately, I was kind of surprised.
After a few hours, we wrapped up our trip to the zoo. I snapped a quit shot as we exited, just for memory’s sake (too bad I didn’t put the stroller in the center of the sign or center the shot at all). Baby Gray was looking a little tired, but hanging in there. 
We walked the last steps to the car, and I looked down to get Baby Gray out of his stroller and into the carseat. Crashed. Too much fun at the zoo!

mousse/Recipes/TV

Such a Sweet Tooth

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I have an incurable sweet tooth. Try as I may, I cannot kick it. Some days it’s better than others, but usually, I consume quite a bit of sugar (oops). 

In the evenings, Mr. Gray likes to watch Food Network and the Cooking Channel. I would rather throw the TV out the window, but if sitting on the couch while he unwinds is how I get to spend some time with him in the evenings when we have a minute of down time, I’ll take it. He works way too hard all day for me to harp on him about turning the TV off. (For those of you thinking, “He could have you watching sports,” there are days I’d actually prefer that.) 

Last night whatever we were watching featured a raspberry chocolate mousse cake, which prompted me to hop up and make some impromptu mousse for our dessert. It was the first time I had made mousse, and I used a modified recipe I found online due to the limited ingredients I had. I modified it a little more, and ta-da: mousse!

You Will Need:
Heavy Whipping Cream
Bitter Sweet, Semi-Sweet, or Unsweetened Baking Squares

I used whatever was left of my cream–probably about 6-8 ounces and 3 baking squares (I mixed 2 bittersweet and 1 unsweetened)

  • Melt baking squares in a double boiler or in thirty-second increments in the microwave (I rarely melt it in the microwave, but I did last night)
  • Stir chocolate until smooth and allow to cool
  • Whip cream until peaks begin to form
  • Fold chocolate into cream
  • Refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until set (I mixed it all up as dinner was in the oven; by the time we ate, it was ready to go)

Had I been making this for some real occasion or with any preparation at all, I would have garnished it with some homemade whipped cream, berries, and chocolate shavings. 

Yeah, it wasn’t any good…
2011/books/goals/iBooks

Bookin’ It Update

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I’ve managed to maintain my minimum of one book a month goal so far. I’ve been posting my books as I read them so I don’t forget what I read. I haven’t added any reviews, so I’ll add a few now. 

Room by Emma Donoghue is probably my favorite book so far this year. It was told from a child’s point of view, and I loved every aspect of it! She did a fabulous job! 
Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson is definitely my least favorite book so far. I agree with Dr. Dobson on several aspects, but many things he says just hit me like nails on a chalkboard. I don’t think I’ll be reading anything of his again for a while. 
I’m starting the new Jen Lancaster book today. It’s fiction instead of a memoir, so I’m not sure how that will be, but I’ve always loved all her previous work. Mr. Gray was so sweet: he pre-ordered If You Were Here for me a month or so ago! I got it this week as I was finishing up another book, Have You Found Her? by Janice Erlbaum. That was a great memoir, albeit a little long (not number of pages, specifically, but wordy in some places). It took me longer than I would have liked to read it because I kept forgetting to take it with me. That’s where I find myself liking iBooks more and more.