BIRTHDAYS, DINNER PARTIES AND THE TALL & SHORT OF IT

To begin with, our precious great-great nephew, Jack, just turned two (I think I have enough greats in there!) This is the most recent photograph that we have of him. He's a beautiful child and we are so blessed to have him in the family!

I have had a really busy past week or so. Mid-week several of us celebrated another artist friend's birthday.


There are five of us who get together on our birthdays and have lunch together. We used to all paint together but somehow life has gotten in the way. We all still paint, but not together on a regular basis anymore.

Then on Friday night the "Gang" had a get together and we had a great dinner party at our friend's house.

As always, a good time was had by all. How can you miss with good friends and fellowship!

On Saturday Franklin and Papa went to the hockey game in Dallas.They said that the game was pitiful (the Stars lost) but they had a great time just being together. At least they were dressed as the staunch supporters that they are. I think it's wonderful when father and son can spend quality time together with just the guys. That's very special to us .. especially as we grow older. We really appreciate the time that our children spend with us. They are the lights of our lives.

As soon as we returned from church yesterday I started preparing for Family Day and family birthday celebrations. Once I was out of my church clothes, I started baking. I made a chocolate cobbler that was absolutely to die for! It was the first time I have made it, so I kept my fingers crossed with the hope that it would turn out well. It's not the best looking finished product that I've ever seen, but the aroma coming from the kitchen as it was cooking was unbelievable. The house was filled with the delicious smell of chocolate so I couldn't have gone too wrong! Plus ... it makes it's own chocolate sauce right in the pan.

When they first arrived, Frank decided to have the kids play a game called "Leap Frog" on the computer. It's quite a challenge and it took all 3 of them to figure it out.

Even though Connor is our computer whiz kid, he couldn't figure it out on his own. He wanted to know if the winner got a cash prize but we told him not today!

Here is the link if you want to try the challenge yourself.

Frog Leap Test

I understand that second graders in China can solve this, but this old woman had a very difficult time. I also know that I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader :-)

Since Harry is part of the family now (he's our Granddog), he decided to give one of our furry friends a run for their money.

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that he was licking his chops after dining on Squirrel Stew. Actually, he'd just finished polishing off a T-bone that we had saved for him from a previous meal.

We have decided to rotate where we will have family day each month, so we have made a plan to make it as easy as possible for the "host" person. We also decided that we would always play some games as we are a competitive bunch and all enjoy the fun.

I had bought the Seinfeld edition of "Scene It" so as soon as we all had a little libation in our hands, we popped the DVD in and started to play.

We had a very competitive game ... girls against the guys ... and the girls won. Yeah!!!

We were celebrating Ethan's 14th birthday, Rachel's 32nd and Dayna's 30th, so it was time to open the gifts. They made such a cute looking group that I couldn't resist taking a photo of the birthday people.

The girls posed for me with their new handbags. Ethan had already put his gift cards and money in his pocket.

The weather was beautiful, so we went outside on the deck and the boys went in the jacuzzi and the pool (they nearly froze to death in the pool) We enjoyed Margaritas and Chili con Queso while they were swimming.

We started the mega eat-a-thon with Chili con Queso and Margaritas. I opted to serve pizza for dinner which we ordered from Biraporetti.

Before we ordered the pizza, we had a rematch of Seinfeld Scene It and the girls won again. Ian couldn't resist putting on some old glasses of mine and acting like an alien. The teeth were almost the last straw. He looked so awful to be such a cute boy. Needless to say, with a team effort, we won the rematch. Way to go gang!

After we finished the pizza, we had dessert. The Chocolate Cobbler was amazing! I served it warm and topped it with vanilla ice cream. The family said that it was even better than my chocolate souffles that I make and it was a lot less trouble!

Here is the recipe if you are interested in making a favorable impression!

Chocolate Cobbler

1 & 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided into 3/4 cup and 1/2 cup
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons cocoa, divided into 3 tablespoons and 4 tablespoons
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 & 1/2 cups hot water
Preheat oven to 350°.
Stir together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, butter, and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 8-inch square glass baking pan.
In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and 4 tablespoons cocoa. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Pour hot water over the top. Do not stir.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Let stand for 15 minutes, then serve. Use the chocolate sauce in the bottom of the pan to spoon over servings. Garnish, if desired, with ice cream or whipped cream.
Makes 8 servings.

Everyone went home around 7:00 and we proceeded to watch the Oscars.

I thought they were a class act this year and enjoyed everything except the political speeches. Frank and I are big movie buffs and could watch movies 24/7, so this was right up our alley.
Franklin checked his I-phone just before they left to make sure he was up to date on his messages,

and when they hugged goodbye, we all realized how tall Nicholas is and how tiny Beth is .... and to think that he's her baby nephew in law!

As I was finishing this post, I heard this loud crash and then a woman scream so I rushed outside to see what had happened.

We live down the street from an elementary school and I was afraid that a child had been hit since school was just letting out. As it happened, this young woman was late picking up her child, wasn't paying attention to what she was doing (was probably on her cell phone) and plowed into a car that was parked in front of our house. Both cars were damaged pretty badly, but no one was seriously hurt .... thank goodness! We had a fire truck, police cars and wreckers here for over an hour.

Papa stayed around to see if there was anything that he could do to help. As soon as I realized that everyone was all right, I grabbed my camera so I could document the event.

Needless to say, there's never a dull moment around here! We called 911 as the woman who hit the car was so hysterical that she couldn't do anything but cry. It was a brand new card and the poor thing was so upset.

The mess is finally cleared up and they have just taken the last car away.

It was a real blessing that this didn't happen 5 minutes later or lots of little children could have been involved.

It's cocktail time now, so I'd better sign off and have some liquid refreshment. Have a good week. Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday and I'll be reporting off and on during Lent, so please stay tuned.

XOXO, Pcasso