Happy 30th Birthday Karen

Dirty 30!

Karen,

You've finally made it to the 30's. Now I don't feel so old, you're catching up with me. Even though everybody thinks your the older sister....I guess that's because I look so young.

I can still remember when you were little. Oh my gosh, I couldn't stand you. You got on my last nerve! You were such a tattle tell. Yes, you were. Don't try to deny it. I still have the evidence to prove it. Yep, I have it right here in black and white.

You should of known I was going to share this. You found my diary and saw what I put about Daddy. I was mad at him about something, and this is what you wrote in your little 7yr old handwriting..."I'm telling about this"

I don't think you ever told, but that's beside the point. The threat was there. And I'm sure I had to play Barbies with you or something to stop you from telling.

Once you got older, you became my closest confidant and still are. Not only are you my little sister, you're my best friend.

Karen, you are such a strong lady. You've been though so much with Tremayne and Daddy dying. I don't know how you are able to stay so strong. I'm sure at times you get lonely and depressed, but know that I am always here. I pray for you every night. You've been through some rough times, but I know better days are coming. I know Mommy and Daddy are looking down on you and proud of the woman you've become. I am too...even though I will always remember the little tattle tell you were.

TJ and his Mommy

Happy Flowers

While at the store yesterday I saw this bouquet of flowers on sale for $2.99. I couldn't resist adding them to my basket of groceries. They made me feel happy. Sometimes it's the little things that brighten your day, and these definitely brightened my day.

Coach

Spring is here, and with spring comes baseball season. And this year, there is a new coach in town....Coach V. (initial used to protect the coaches identity)

This is Fonzy's first year of coaching our boys teams. As most of you know, he assistant coaches middle school football and basketball. The boys told him he always coaches other kid's team, but never theirs. So here he is, Head coach of Ezekiel's team and he will be assistant coaching Elijah's team. We are in for some fun this summer. Tonight was his team, The Mets, first practice. I decided to get out and take some pictures to capture the season.

Mets first practice '08 Season

And here is the "reluctant" team mom according to the coach. Yeah, he typed up a nice little introduction letter to give to the parents and said I was the reluctant team mom. I am not reluctant! Really, I'm not! A little chubby faced, but not reluctant! OK, a lot chubby faced, but NOT RELUCTANT!

Stand Up If You've Ever Lied To Your Spouse

Our church home

Easter Sunday is one of the days out of the year that everyone decides to go church. You know the church is going to be packed, so you rush to get there on time or you'll be sitting in a folded chair in the aisle. I hate to admit, we are almost always late to church, so Easter was no exception. I thought for sure we weren't going to find a seat, but I guess we weren't the only ones running late. By the time our minister got up to preach, the church was packed! As usual our Minister was preaching a great sermon. He preached on the Easter story, but it was so much more. Our minister is all about family. Loving your family, keeping the family together, keeping marriages strong. You know, the marriage is key to keeping the family together. Well, our minister also has a sense of humor. Sometimes, he will say things, like if anyone has ever cussed out their spouse, please stand up. Then he will start to chuckle and say, I'm only kidding, don't stand up. No one ever stands up. We know he is just making a point.

Now, Fonzy has allergies. He had run out of his allergy medicine during the week, so he had a snotty nose on Sunday. Before the sermon, he had gone to the bathroom to blow his nose. But I guess he didn't think to grab tissue to bring back with him, in case his nose started to run again. Our minister started preaching and he was preaching up a storm. Everyone was amening and enjoying the service. Then it happened. He asked one of his famous questions....."If anyone has ever lied to their spouse, please stand up," and before he could even finish, Fonzy stood up to go to the bathroom to blow his nose. The church fell out laughing. Fonzy just shook his head and headed out to the bathroom with a smile on his face. Of course everyone turned and looked at me. Now, I blush easily, so my face turned bright red. I was laughing right along with everyone else, because it was really funny. I mean the timing was perfect, but I couldn't help the blushing. I hate that I blush so easily. Anyway, after church, everyone was telling him they could not believe he stood up. They said he would go down in history as the only one who was brave enough to stand up, when asked that question. Fonzy just laughed and said our minister set him up, or that they had planned it all. When we got to the minister to give him a hug/shake his hand, he could not stop laughing either. The whole thing was priceless.

Boys = WWE Wrestling, and Nerf Gun Wars

As most of you know, I am the mami to four boys. The testosterone is flowing in my house when I have all my boys together. So in my house, there is always WWE wrestling, Ultimate fighting championships, football throwing (knocking over pictures, etc. in the process)ball catching practice and Nerf gun shooting. And it's not just the boys, Fonzy is almost always in the mix. And sometimes we have TJ (nephew) too. See....I am surrounded by boys!

So the other day, instead of yelling about all the running, yelling, and rough housing, I decided to take pictures.

Here's Fonzy getting ready to shot TJ in the mouth. And TJ is all ready with his mouth wide open. Poor kid, he is an only child, and not use to all this rough housing/abuse.

Fonzy is now suffocating Elijah with a pillow, while TJ is beating him up.

Now Elijah is stuck between Fonzy's legs getting ready to be shot.

TJ is just watching, happy he is not Elijah.

Ezekiel is hiding under the bed.

The tables have turned....

Attack!

Fonzy had just thrown TJ on top of Ezekiel or Elijah, not sure which one.

Next is WWE Wrestling...

Choke Slam!

I think Fonzy's wrestling name is Chocolate Thunder. Or was it Chocolate Blue? I have to ask his family about that one.

Easter pictures - 3 days late

Yeah, I know it's late, and I really didn't want to post this picture (I look so fat), but it's memories, so here are some pictures.

Before church

Jay (brother), in the kitchen getting ready to make the rice.

Vicki (Jay's woman) snacking on chips and Elijah in the background.

Ezekiel eating his chocolate bunny. I had a picture of Elijah eating his, but for some reason, it didn't come out. And by the time I realized it didn't, his bunny was all gone, so I couldn't snap another picture. Oh well....

TJ, eating his bunny.

Found

Remember my lost bracelet that I was just sick about? Well, it's been found!!! Thank you Lord. Elijah saw it under my car seat the other day. Luckily he did too, because I took my car in that same day to be serviced. Who knows if someone had found it while working on my car if they would of let me know or just picked it up and given it to their girlfriend or wife. Not saying they would have, but you just never know. The clasp is kind of loose, so I am taking it to the jeweler to be tightened. I do not want to lose it again!!!!!

Oh and when Elijah found the bracelet, he wanted to know what his reward was. I told him his reward was a very happy Mommy and Daddy. Mommy, because she loves her bracelet, Daddy, because he paid a pretty penny for it! He didn't like that reward.

911 - What's your emergency?

I don't know what it is with my kids, but for some reason, both sets of my boys have felt the need to call 911. When my older boys, Samuel and Manuel were about 8 and 7 (they are 18 and 17 now) they were in a back room playing. I was in the living room, and the phone rings. It's a 911 operator....

"Ma'am, we just got a 911 call from your number. Is everything OK?"

Of course I realized the boys must of been playing with the phone, so I tell them there is no emergency that my boys must of dialed 911 playing around with the phone. They said OK, and before I could hang up the phone, there is banging at my front door. I answer the door and it's the cops.

"Ma'am, we got a 911 from this residence, is everything OK?"

I let the cops know that all is well, that my boys were messing around with the phone. They state they have to search the house to make sure we weren't killing anyone in a back room. Once they search the house, they tell the boys how serious dialing 911 is and not to play with the phone.

Fast forward to this past weekend. Ezekiel and Elijah are in the spare room watching TV/playing. All of sudden Elijah runs into the living room yelling..."Daddy, Daddy, Ezekiel dialed 911!"

Of course I knew what was coming next. I told Ezekiel about how his older brothers called 911 and that the 911 operator would be calling us back and then the cops would show up. Not even a minute later the phone rings....

"911, we got a call from this number"

Deja'vu.....

I told the operator my 8yr old was messing with the phone and dialed 911, and how sorry I was. All she said was OK, and that was the end of our conversation.

I called Ezekiel into the living room, because I told him the cops would be coming next and he needed to answer the door and explain to the cops why he dialed 911. He sat down looking all scared, near tears, then Fonzy told Ezekiel that they were going to take him to jail, so he better get ready. Ezekiel fell out crying and hollering. "I don't want to go to jail...mommy, I don't want to go to jail."

I told Ezekiel he was not going to jail, but Fonzy insisted he was. He told Ezekiel he needed to call his Grandma to see if she had any money to bail him out of jail. Fonzy dialed his mom and told Ezekiel to get on the phone, but he refused and went to his room crying and saying he did not want to go to jail. Of course Elijah, being the tattle tale that he is, got on the phone and told Grandma how everything went down.

"Grandma, Ezekiel dialed 911 and I heard the 911 people says, 911, what is your emergency and Ezekiel hung up the phone! They called back and now Ezekiel is going to jail! Do you have any money to get him out of jail?"

I'm not sure what Grandma said, but then I heard Elijah say...."Well, I have some of my birthday money, he can have all of it to get out." Aww, isn't that sweet. He was willing to give his birthday money to bail his brother out of jail.

About 20 minutes had passed and no cops banging on the door. I guess the cops here in NC don't care if you are killing someone in the back room. The Texas cops were no joke!

Since the cops didn't show up, Fonzy went outside and starting banging on the door. I grabbed my camera and told Ezekiel the cops were here and he had to answer the door. Crying, he went to the door and saw Fonzy there laughing. He was soo mad. He started punching on him....he was really upset. Of course it didn't help that Fonzy would not stop laughing. And of course I snapped pictures. An hour or so later Ezekiel calmed down, but the whole thing was too funny. Hopefully he learned a lesson. Don't call 911 unless there is really an emergency!

Here's Ezekiel crying his heart out, saying he didn't want to go to jail.

Here he is hitting Fonzy after he realized it was not the cops, but Daddy at the door. It looks like he is smiling, but believe me, he is not.

And here he is laying on his bed, mad at all of us.

Poor baby....

Mom....I think I'm in love

I got a call from Manuel yesterday. We chit chatted for a while, then he said he called to tell me something. My heart stopped. I hate to admit, the first thing that came to mind was he got in trouble somehow or he got someone pregnant. Two things that are not good for a 17yr old. Then he said this....

"Mom, I think I'm in love"

Phew....I could breathe easy. I'm not going to be Grandma yet. Have you noticed that Grandmas are getting younger and younger?

Anyway before Manuel moved here with me,(he was with his Dad in TX) he said he had a girlfriend in Junior High, Nicole. Well, when he moved here to NC, they sort of lost touch. He was here with me for almost 3yrs, then this past December he moved back with his dad. He is working at McDonald's and guess who was working there too, Nicole. He said they started talking again and he thinks he's in love. She's 16. Now I remember when I was 16 and thought I was in love. You feel you will never love anyone as much as your first love. You think you can't live without that person. It's all consuming. I asked if her parents knew about them dating and he said her Mom knows, but not her Dad. Yep, been there, except neither of my parents knew. My mom was losing her battle with cancer and Daddy was trying to keep our lives together. I told Manuel he needed to make sure he didn't do anything to get himself or Nicole in trouble. She should let her dad know she was seeing him and he needed to be a man, and meet her Dad, talk to him...be respectful. I let him know her Dad would respect him more for that. There should be no sneaking around. He said he was going to talk to him. Then I told him he better respect Nicole also and don't break her heart. He said he would never do that. He went on to say how beautiful she was and how he really thought he was in love. He said if anything, she would be the one to break his heart. If that happened, he would be calling me crying like a baby. I hate to say it, but at such a young age, a broken heart is to be expected. Not many people stay with their first loves. Of course, I didn't tell him that. My final words of advice....abstinence! No sex until you are married. I am too young to be a Grandma! Of course I'm sure that went in one ear and out the other.

Lost

For our first year anniversary, Fonzy got me a diamond tennis bracelet. It is gorgeous! I've worn it everyday since he got it. Well, almost everyday. I remember wearing my bracelet to church on Sunday, but can't remember if I had it on Monday when I went to work. I went to put it on yesterday and could not find it!!!!!! I tore my room apart...dumped all my clothes out of my dresser, thinking maybe it had fallen in there. Checked Fonzy's dresser, stripped my bed, checked under the bed, the dirty clothes hamper, under couches, chairs...EVERYWHERE! It was no where to be found! I am just sick about my bracelet....SICK! I know it is just a possession, and people have lost everything in fires, storms, etc., but that bracelet meant a lot to me. I'm praying it will pop up somewhere. Maybe I somehow overlooked it. My wrist just seems so bare without it.

I'm a bookworm

I love to read. Growing up, books were my escape. There's nothing better than finding a great book and getting lost in it. Books take you to another place, another time. When I go to the library, I say to myself I'm only getting one book, maybe two and this is what I come out with and I have more stacked beside my bed. It's an addiction, I tell you, an addiction.

My Mother-in-Law's Green Enchiladas w/Chicken

Disclaimer: I am Puerto Rican, not Mexican. This is the way my Mexican Mother-in-law taught me how to make green enchiladas. If this is not the way to make authentic green enchiladas, and refried beans please feel free to let me and my mother-in-law know.

This is my mother-in-law. Isn't she beautiful. Doesn't she look totally different from her picture here.

And here are my mother-in-laws enchiladas.....

We have chicken, corn tortillas, cheese, peppers, onions, cream of mushroom soup, pinto beans, ham, and spices.

First, take your peppers and cut them up. The peppers I have are jalapeno, and some type of chili pepper. You can use all jalapeno or a mixture of jalapeno and serrano. Whatever you like. But remember, wash your hands after handling the peppers. Do not, I repeat, do not rub your eyes while handling the peppers. I learned this the hard way. The first time I made enchiladas, I rubbed my eyes and thought I was going to go blind! I cried and screamed in pain. Not a good memory.

Once you cut the tops off the peppers, cut along the side and take out all the seeds. I am told the seeds hold all the hotness.

peppers all cut and clean

put the peppers in a pot and boil until they get soft.

Next are the pinto beans for refried beans. I love refried beans, but I always get the ones in the can. My MIL said I better not feed her precious son beans out of the can, so I had to make the real deal. I have never made homemade refried beans before. This should be interesting.

First you check the beans for any small rocks, or deformed beans. I have found a rock or two in the beans. You wouldn't want to feed your family rocks, would you?

Next you rinse the beans off...once rinsed you let soak in water for a few hours.

After the beans have soaked for a few hours, you put them in a pot with water and a hambone, hamhock, bacon pieces, whatever. (For you non pork eating people, you can omit the pork.) You cook the beans for a few hours. At least that is what I was told.

Read disclaimer above.

Once you have the beans going, start your chicken. I always use boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I like dark meat......get your heads out of the gutter!

I've sprayed the pan with Pam cooking spay, and seasoned the chicken. I used garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and adobo.

Cover the chicken and let cook.

Isn't it great to have a stove full of cooking food. It would be even better if I didn't have to clean up afterwards.

While everything is cooking, take this time to chop up an onion.

By the time you finish all that your peppers should be about ready. Take the peppers and puree in the blender.

Add a can of cream of mushroom soup. This is the big can. I wouldn't make a good chef. I should put the ounces of the can, but I threw it away. Sorry.

Blend together, and there you have your green enchilada sauce. At least according to my Mother-in-law....see disclaimer above.

OK, once the chicken is cooked, dice it up or shread with your hands. I choose to shread. Putting my hands all in the food makes it taste better.

for the enchiladas, you use CORN tortillas, not flour

heat up vegtable oil and fry the corn tortillas...a few seconds on each side

they should start to bubble up like this...

Take the tortillas and blot off all the grease, repeat until you have enough for the enchiladas you want. I make an enchilada lasagna. I know, it doesn't sound like Mexican enchiladas.....but again, see my disclaimer above.

Now you start the layers, bottom layer is tortillas

then chicken

pour the sauce over the chicken

add onions

top with cheese

Repeat until you have filled the pan. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until all the cheese is melted

Now it's time to make the refried beans.

drain the beans

Heat a little vegtable oil in pan, add the beans.

Smash the beans and add spices....garlic powder, onion powder, whatever you like, to your taste. Now, these beans did not look all that great to me,, but this is how my MIL told me to do it....see disclamer above.

Now you can't have Mexican food without guacamole. At least I can't have Mexican without gauacamole. I love avacados!

Cut an avacado in half like so.

scoop it all, and put in bowl

I like guacamole, so I used 2 avacados.

add spices....garlic powder, pepper, onion powder, and mix

Now taste....mmmmmm, good! I could eat this whole bowl by myself.

by now your enchiladas should be about done. Look at all the oooey, gooey cheese!

I usually make a salad to go along with the meal


And here is your finished product.

I have a confession to make though......those are canned beans in the picture. The beans did not come out right at. all. They were dry and pretty horrible. When I called my mother-in-law to complain about the beans, she said I was suppose to save some of the juice from the beans instead of draining it all. Uh, that would of been nice to know, BEFORE I made the beans. Needless to say, I won't be making homemade refried beans. Not my thing. I'll save myself some work and get a can of beans.

Again, see my disclaimer. I am Puerto Rican not Mexican.