Dalton and Maggie were just fighting over a bracelet that he had made at school. Boyd was explaining to him that he should share with her because she is his sister and he loves her.

As Dalton left our room, he said, "Well, I DO love her, but I don't want to share with her!"

Some of My favorite pieces of Dalton's art that have come home at the end of the school year.

The girls and I are playing outside on the lovely Memorial Day morning. Jessie pointed to the green van and said, "Daddy's car!" I pointed to the grey van and asked whose car that is. "Mine!" If it makes tk that long, she's probably more right than she knows.

Maggie Anne was helping me make a pudding cake last night and one of the ingredients was brown sugar. After asking what it was and hearing my answer, Maggie asked if it was ok if she just calls it tasty sand.

Microwave Roux

Over the long weekend, I'm working on some meals that I can freeze to make things easier on me making dinner during the week. One of the things I'm making this weekend is chicken & sausage gumbo. I've made this most of my life and make roux the traditional way most often, but think I'm going to go back to a microwave roux this time.

Don't roll your eyes. It really does taste the same. Seriously. Takes about the same amount of time too, but the microwave variety takes slightly less babysitting because I can walk away from it from a minute or two at a time. Thought I would share the recipe.


Microwave Roux

1 cup flour
1 cup oil

Mix ingredients into a creamy paste in a glass 2-quart measuring bowl (or whatever glass bowl you have, but the handle is especially helpful in this process).

Microwave on high for about 4 minutes. Stir. Cook for an additional 2 minutes. Stir again. At this point, the mixture should be bubbly and start to turn a darker color.

Watch closely from this point forward. Continue to cook for 30-45 seconds, then stir again. Continue these small 30-45 second cooking times until you get your desired roux darkness.

Copper penny color is what I shoot for.

Throw in your diced green onions when you are done and it will stop the cooking and make less splatter when you add to your gumbo.

New Jessie Anne Selfies

She just can't resist a selfie!

In going through some old boxes, we found a tube of film from an old camera. My kids were fascinated by this and didn't have a clue what we were talking about. I guess I'm fascinated that they don't know what this is.

Oh wait, no that's not fascination, that old. I feel old that I've shown my kids something that is almost obsolete.

Now . . . to find out what's on this film.

Dalton is really into Minecraft. He incorporates our family into what he builds. Boyd and I have a house. Lots of fun things he likes. I'm still learning about this game, but he knows how to build signs and labels his buildings.

Last night, he came and showed me that he had built "Mom's Melon Kingdom." I had to ask him what it is for and it is to store my watermelons. Not sure on that one. He's in the middle of building something else and when I asked him what it was, he said he was building me a restaurant. Says he's gonna call it "Jenn's Hot Buns." I'm going to bake bread and cakes there.

I give him points for originality, but I'm starting to wonder about these names. :-)

So Maggie came to visit with me outside of my shower this morning. This usually means it's going to be something pretty good. Anyway, today her question is, "Mama, why do you like frogs?"

Yes, frogs are something that I collected pre-kiddos and still enjoy finding unique pieces every now and again. Not sure when it started, but probably once I had my own place to decorate. You can look for some deeper inspirational meaning in that frogs only hop forward, not backwards, but I don't have that motivational excuse. I just like frogs.

My response to Maggie was, "I don't know. Why do you like princesses?"

Quick as a whip, Maggie responds, "Well . . . they're people . . . and their beautiful . . . and I'm beautiful . . . and that's why I like princesses."

I couldn't argue with any of that.

Sweet gift that the preschool ladies help Jessie Anne make for me.

When I got to school Friday, she started showing me her hand when I walked in the door. I didn't understand and the teachers told me that she was very excited about her project and they were right. She led me right to them.

This is what happens when our bearded dragon Jake hangs out with the princess of the house. 

Boyd jokingly told her that Jake "loves the ladies." After this, Maggie "introduced" him to every single Barbie she has.

Maggie Anne was introducing her dad today. Her name is Dolly Cherry Moonfollow. She goes on adventures seeking jewels, but always follows the moon. :-)

Maggie Anne and I went to see the latest Disney Princess on Ice show last night. We went on a "double date" with my friend Alex and her daughter Amelia complete with McDonald's before the show.

My favorite part was at the end when there were some pyrotechnics to hide the transformation of the Beast to the prince in his human form. Maggie sat all the way back in her chair, looked up at me and said, "Whoa! I totally did not see that coming!" (How many times have we seen that movie???)

Maggie chose to dress as her favorite, the Little Mermaid, and Amelia was Merida from Brave. Both girls had a LOT of fun and made fast friends.

Our air conditioner went out Sunday night. When we got home tonight Maggie Anne saw the repairman's truck and asked who was parked at our house.

When I told her who it was, she told me, "I'm going to go see him. I want to see if he is mysterious."

I love that Jessie Anne thinks I'm a superhero because I can push the end of her popsicle to the end of the stick so it's easier for her to eat. Hope she is always so easily impressed!

Strainer Tip

I'm am about convinced that this really works and I'm not just thinking it does in my head. We make a LOT of macaroni & cheese at our house. This always has the pasta sitting in the strainer for a couple of minutes while I make the sauce. That couple of minutes always leads to pasta stuck in the strainer.

A while back I started giving the strainer a quick spray of nonstick cooking spray. It actually works and helps the pasta slide back out into you pot or serving container. Warning, the more you shake it (to get out more water), the less effective the cooking spray is. But if I just pour it and let it drain on its own, I've had good success with this.

My new herb planter for this year. It will live inside so that cats can't ruin it like they did last year.

Interesting Soup

Boyd got us a couple of fresh pineapples last weekend and I was searching for ways to use up the rest of it. I came across the following recipe on Food52 and it intrigued me so much that I just had to try it. It was definitely not bad, but not sure that I will have it on my "must have" list from here on out either. It wasn't quite hearty enough on it's so, so I sauteed some chicken and threw it in there.

Sweet Potato Pineapple Soup

• 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1medium onion, chopped
• 2garlic cloves, peeled & finely chopped
• 1pound sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1" pieces
• 1cup pineapple, peeled & chopped into 1" pieces
• 4cups water
• 1tablespoon dried sage leaves
• 1tablespoon salt (and extra for final seasoning)
• 1/2tablespoon freshly ground black pepper (and extra for final seasoning)
• 1/4teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2tablespoons toasted coconut (optional)
• 2tablespoons chopped cashews (optional)

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil, in a heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat, until soft.
2. Add sweet potato and pineapple, and saute for a few minutes. Add in water, sage, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir and bring to a boil. Then, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes until potato is tender.
3. Puree the mixture with a hand blender or in a stand-blender. Return the pureed soup to your pot and gently simmer, adding additional seasoning as needed. You'll definitely need to add a bit more salt and pepper.
4. http://food52.com/recipes/1617-sweet-potato-pineapple-soup