SOCIAL MEDIA

Halloween, Birthdays, and Owl Pellets

November 3, 2026

Elliot turned 8 on Friday! You can tell it's been a busier than average month, all he wanted was a Big Mac and to watch the new Minion movie as a family. 


I hate to even use the term busy, but we have done something every single Saturday this last month and that will about kill anyone in our household. All of us need that down time to recoup and power through the next week. It was self inflicted busy, it was fun, but now it's time to November to be more chill.




He wanted a football cake this year. I used what is now the standard cake recipe for us, forget the layers... this sheet cake is the best chocolate cake ever. Walmart wasn't on board with this decor and cancelled the sprinkles for the fans and the white icing I wanted to write numbers. Thank goodness these kids are go with the flow and I had leftover Halloween sprinkles from last year. We used Harry's birthday sprinkles for the away team and the Halloween sprinkles for the Bengals side. 





You can't just get a couple goal posts, Amazon wants you to make goal post football cakes for all of North America. I also ordered yellow straws... and once again Walmart was not on board. 


I made a little cupcake size topper of Elliot as a Bengals player. My hot glue gun was really doing the heavy lifting on these decorations.  We also added a ton of green gel color and gave up and accepted the light green turf. 

I'll probably post the recipe for this when I make it again for Harry's birthday. I had to make a few changes to the recipe due to an ingredient I can't find and what's resulted from that. Whatever happens in Feburary depends on the notes I share for it. 




Night before decor! We usually get donuts for breakfast and sing before school, but Ellit wasn't into it this year. He had donuts the day before and was only interested in a Big Mac later that day. 




On Saturday the rain really held out and we went trick-r-treating in our old neighborhood. I hate that when we moved back that we couldn't find a house in this neighborhood, it's just the best little place. 




While we were walking around a little girl came up and knew that they were... I'm not even gonna pretend like I remember what they were. Something Minecraft. Anyway, she was a mermaid. They couldn't figure out what she was. Between the two of them they named eery version of a princess a little boy can list, which is short - but never made it to mermaid. 





Our old in home sitter doesn't live here anymore, but we still had to come by and knock on the door. They had the yard just as decorated as Mrs. Tammy always did. That house holds so many good memories. You just can't beat having someone so precious to love on your children when you work fulltime. For a family that had to find childcare, we really lucked out. 




No notes, just a really pretty sky one night. I was leaving Walmart on an ice cream run and saw it. It very much occured to me that the typical dairy run is milk, our typical dairy run is in fact ice cream. 




Harry's teacher had owl pellets for the kids to disect recently. He was so excited to do it, I still have a bag of bones and skulls on the kitchen table. I got a real good laugh though when I saw that his good friend that's behind him had his face covered in every single picture. 



 

Read More
at

What's For Dinner?

October 29, 2026

I can't believe Elliot's birthday is tomorrow, and I don't say that excited. I need more time! He fussed at me last night, because I hadn't managed to decorate the kitchen yet. I better get my act together this evening. Hopefully that child's cake gets baked this afternoon. 


I'm kicking myself for not printing the recipe last year. Bon Appetite is diry for those paid recipes. If you can get though the Chocolate Sheet Cake with Brown Butter Frosting is my favorite birthday cake. If anyone has a subscription and wants to mail me that recipe, I'd be forever grateful. 



Thursday | Loaded Breakfast Skillet with Cinnamon Crunch Pumpkin Biscuits (this still hasn't been made, life has been nuts)

Friday |  Eating Out


Sunday |  Church Meeting - Dinner is Buffalo Chicken Dip


Tuesday | leftovers


Lunch for the Week | I'm being so lazy and can't bring myself to meal prep. This week's prep was a bust. Remind me to never bake a boneless thigh again. Gag! So anyway, I ordered some high protein freezer meals. 

I didn't even eat my lunch today. I've been picking around, I just can't bare the thought of eating it... and this is becoming more and more common. Way back in the day I could meal prep for work and it was great all week. Some switch has turned and I can't make a decent lunch to save my life. Plus you are eating in a lunchroom while watching children eat in a 20 minute race. It's rough. 
Read More
at

We Laughed, We Cried, It Was Better Than Cats

October 27, 2026

 October has been quite the month. I keep telling Elliot that he has exhausted the amout of fun a person can have in a lifetime celebrating his birthday just this month alone. 


He started out going to his first LSU game. 


Then he went to the Saints v Falcons game with his Dad, this was his actual birthday present from us. 




Luck child went with is father and got to have the full experience! I joke that I'm too cheap to have fun at this stuff. 




What made it even more special is that it was both their first time going to an NFL game. 




This wide leg stance appears to be the stance of the moment. 






I don't know which part was more fun for him. But this part was funny to me. He has loved coffee his entire life and has been on a quest to try Pumpkin Spice lately. I think he saw a commercial. Elliot's dreams came true, he has hotel coffee, frozen Cafe au Lait, and then a Pumpkin Spice Frappe. Thank goodness the Fraps are basically just milkshake. 


But whatever, all these boys think rules don't apply if I'm not around enforcing them. 




This past weekend our friends graciously gave us their extra tickets to The Lion King. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is the best thing I've ever seen in my life. If you have a chance to go before they leave New Orleans, go. Take off work. But see it! I wasn't one to want to see a Broadway play, but now I get why my friend Rebecca loves it so much. 


Add to the fact that I was on a puppet team in high school. We had some fairly advanced puppets for our blacklight productions, and one that involved multiple people operating full body puppets. So just knowing that tiny bit about the puppets made the scale of what they were doing so incredible. There's a few that I said after the fact that I want to see operated with the lights on. 


I only have a pic of Elliot. Harrison was already nervous because the buildings were tall downtown. Thank goodness we got there an hour early and had assigned seats, we needed the time for Jeremy to coax Harrison up the stairs. Somewhere between sensory issues and phobias lie is problem with anything he precieves as big. When he initially got into his seat he had his face covered up, but as soon as the lights went off and the first scene begane he was easing those hands down and glued into the show. 


As hard as it is to take him places that stress him out, I know it's for the best in the long run. He needs to see that even when he is fearful that he is still safe in these situations. Since we basically forced him to do something we knew he'd be terrified of, but love, he's been obsessed with talking about the play. Once he got over his fears he had a great time. 


Elliot on the other hand,  I think he was standing and clapping for the better part of the entire play. 





If there is any inkling as to how busy this month has been, Jeremy was reading to the kids while I was doing a few chores before bed. He went 15 minutes past their usual "get in the bed" time and Elliot was out cold. 




And we still aren't done. Elliot's actual birthday is Friday and I still need to decorate the kitchen and bake his cake. 

Read More
at

Balloon Race Weekend 2026

October 19, 2026

 I always tell anyone that is coming to Natchez/Vidalia for the balloon races that you have to be around Friday, because Saturday is always a bust. If you can take off the entire week you'll see balloons the entire time, but for some reason as soon as the weekend begins... the wind gets dicey. 


This weekend was no different. Though, I can't conplin about it since wind brought in some cool weather. Friday we got up bright and early to start balloon chasing at 7am, that was quickly changed since takeoff was cancelled. We headed to PJ's Coffee and got breakfast at The Donut Shop. By that time the text alert let us know that pilots were teathering all over town. 


This is where the chase in the weekend beings, you just have to wander around until you see something. 




The benefit to Natchez being on the bluff is you can see what's happening in Vidalia pretty well as you cross over the bridge. We spotted two balloons by the riverfront and headed there. Ski Lift was letting a few people teather at a time so we hopped in line. 




Dicey wind got in the way and as the girls ahead of us were preparing to get in the balloon I heard the pilot say that they would have to take the balloon down. I mentally had to forfeit my original idea and asked someone on the crew if we could toss Elliot into the basket with the girls ahead of us. 




He got in just barely in time and can say that he's teathered in a hot air balloon now. 




Harrison didn't appear until the balloon was coming down, he wasn't about to risk being too close lol. 




With the rest of the morning chase shot, we took advange of the time and went to the new park in Vidalia. It is just as good as the one we went to at the Hoover Met, and I am so pumped to have this to play at when we come to visit. 






Notice the clothing change? The weather was changing that quick. Started cool, got hot, lots of wind, then freezing during the fireworks. 





For lunch we headed downtown, these people owe me Pig Out Inn. Our lunch spot was a bit of a bust. Not bad, but they weren't prepared and the food was okay. 




This might be the end of pumpkin patch photos. They weren't having it and when I made a joke about their Dad to get a laugh and offended everyone. How dare I speak of their father that way! 




Where's the photo of Harry's 1st pumpkin patch? We need a side by side of this sad face on a pallet full of pumpkins. 



Same not happy with his mother face as it was a decade ago. 




A visit to my mother is never complete without spending some money at Dixon Books. 




Last, and hopefully this pumpkin doesn't count against us... Elliot had a storybook pumpkin project. I kept suggesting we do the cat from Dogman, and he insisted on a Bengals helmet. I started the helmet while they were at school, picked them up, and he had finally agreed to Dogman. Well buddy, you already have tiger stripes on a pumpkin. 


More encyclopedia pumpkin than storybook.


Also, looks like a football player wearing a covid mask instead of a chin strap.



Read More
at

10 Blog Recipes That We Still Make

October 15, 2026

After a solid 18 years of posting recipes to this blog, let's revisit a few that we actually make frequently. It's funny looking back at a recipe archive, it shows very much what was popular at the time, or whatever taste or style of eating I was on. I get in a flavor rut and will make everything Mexican for a week, or go full Cajun. I use to be a caserole queen, but man are those the way to go back in the days of graduate school living. 


In reality, this is the first year in our marriage (minus a three year school break) that no one (cough cough Jeremy) is in graduate school. 


Don't judge the old photos, things have come a long way over the years. It's also very apparent that the lighting was the best at our Palmland house, of all the places we've lived. I was in a good DSLR groove and could edit better. 

 


1. Ham and Cheese Breakfast Rolls

This are a long time family recipe. I think we first had them when they were being passed around at my cousin's wedding (like 30ish years ago) and we've made them ever since. They've stood the test of time and we love them. The only issue is we use to buy these French rolls and you can't find them anymore. 



2. Chocoalte Cobbler

Prepare yourself, I'm about to say what a favorite something is for every single paragraph. What I love about this recipe is that you already have everything on hand (if you keep a stocked pantry). It's great for when you need a dessert and want something low effort and maximum comfort. 



3. Old Fashion Chocolate Pie 

This recipe is my Great Granny Cater's Chocolate Pie recipe. I wish I had the original on hand, I'm pretty certain it's at my mother's house somewhere. The original recipe called for all those old fashion measurements, coffee cup of this, spoon full of that. I was handed this recipe long before Google searching was common or AI just populated whatever you needed an answer to. I made this pie several times before I perfected it. 


The blog recipe is the original recipe, at home nowadays I make this with a more stable meringue so it doesn't fall as quickly as an old fashioned one. 


4. Chicken Spaghetti

I won't be sharing the photo from this blog post, the reicipe was posted on New Year's Eve 2008. The photo quality is obvious early 2000's. 


This is another recipe that I grew up with and probably tweeked a touch when I first married Jeremy. It's very North Louisiana, or Southern. I don't find that I've seen many people making it this far south though. 




5. Tomato Soup

I make this soup every time we have any sort of slider for lunch after church. It's Elliot's favorite and taste just like Le Madeline's. This comes together so fast, and I grow basil every year just to put it in the freezer to make this soup. 


6. New Orleans Style Black Ham

I've never been a huge fan of ham, but after I learned about this glaze it changed my opinion. If I've made a ham in the last decade, it's been this recipe. 


7. Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip

My mother say this recipe in a magazine in the 90's, we've eaten it every single holiday since them. Favorite dip, no notes. I love it with Ruffles, but they break easy... so I also use bite size tortilla chips. 



8. Pepper Jelly Cheese Dip

Not only is this a favorite of ours, it's one of my most popular recipes on Pinterest. I got this recipe nearly 20 years ago at a bible study. Haven't looked back since. It's incredible with a Ritz or any other buttery cracker. 


9. Hashbrown Casserole

I have no idea where this recipe came from, but we've been making it for well over 20 years. Really brown you veggies well in butter and make a Ritz cracker topping, it's worth the time. 


10. Perfect Every Time Yeast Rolls

This was an idea I originally saw on Pioneer Woman and we've made rolls this way since then. My favorite way is to do this in a cast iron skillet. When we were first married I'd make them in the cast iron every Sunday with lunch. 

Read More
at

Five Things on Friday

October 9, 2026

It's Friday! Plus we (I) have fall break next week... then it's balloon festival in Natchez. Here's a few things from this week. 


These Fudge Bars. I found the recipe on Instagram and they turned out good. My brown sugar was kind of clumping, and honestly the clumps of brown sugar in the oatmeal cookie mixture were divine. The fudge topping is so so so good. I was basically racing Elliot to eat any. Between the two of us we finished the pan in less than a week. I'll share the recipe below, but I won't save it to my recipes since it isn't mine. It's from @cookingwithkira.ia on IG. 




Makes a 9x13
Ingredients: 
3/4 c butter
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 c oatmeal
1 c dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 can sweetened condensed milk
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter

Directions:
1. Combine butter, flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, vanilla, and bakig soda. Mix with a fork until crumbly. 
2. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture and set it aside. 
3. Press the remaining mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. 
4. In a small saucepan, combine condensed milk, 2 tbsp butter, and chocoalte chips. Stir until completely melted. 
5. Spread chocoalte mixture over the oat mix in the pan. 
6. Sprinkle over reserved oat mixture, clumping some of it in your hands as you go to make bigger brumbles. Press it in. 
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 




School and flu season is upon us people, if you aren't using nasal iodine you need to get on it. When I'm consistent I find I don't catch what is going around. When I get lazy and tell myself I won't catch the colds... I have caught it all by the end of the week. 


I just use one spray in each nostril in the evening when I'm done being around crowds. 



It's homecoming week at the kid's school, so Thursday during the parade the staff hands out water. Thank goodness this year someone had the idea to let us ride in side by sides! Our school doesn't have a band or any walkers for the parade, so last year's police escost ran through the parade at 30 miles an hour. 

We started running instead of walking, got way behind, attempted to jump onto another float, and eventually gave up any walking and rode a float all the way back. 




So this year was riding, thank goodness, and we only half needed it. The police escort actually went at parade speed. Then we got really lucky and ran into another school's parade and that slowed us down even more. Add that on top of the nice weather, and you couldn't ask for better.




Tis rolling season. Or as Elliot calls it, paper-toweling. 




Now that Harrison is getting older we have been needing a way for them to contact us if we let him stay at home for a few minutes while we run errands. Both of us are totally against devices and phones, hashtag 90's childhood. The kids only have a gaming system that isn't on the internet and they can only play games that Jeremy buys or allows the rating. 


All that to say we landed on a Tin Can landline. I'm honestly in love. You can even set who is allowed to call and who they are allowed to call. It doesn't hurt that it is also cheaper per month than any other phone out there. Trust me, my first thought was landline again, but that is nuts what they want per month. 




Do youself a favor and get an affagato from Jet Coffee in Lafayette. We went one afternoon, so I didn't want caffeine, but the girl working the window made me so happy when she said they could do it as decaf. It's also Elliot approved, but that child has been trying to drink coffee since he was a baby. 

Read More
at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)