Birthday weekend update

Our whole weekend was spent celebrating Gary!

I have always made a big deal about birthdays and I always will!  I think it is very important to celebrate birthdays.  So that is what we did all weekend long.

The weather was amazing on Friday so Gary wanted to grill steaks.  Steaks are always a hit in our house. Gary commented that his weekend was perfect the second he saw the kids dipping their steak into the steak drippings on our serving dish. 

See that juice.  The kids loved it. Oh me oh my.  

Saturday morning started with a dance party in the living room.  The kids have really enjoyed Layla's playlist on her iPod touch.  They love dancing and jumping around like crazy!

Then the kids wanted dad to open his gifts.  The kids got him golf balls and socks.

My parents kept the kids Saturday night so we could have an adult birthday dinner.

My parents have a few new puppies and so Layla was in hog heaven.  She is such a dog lover, just like her Momma!  Daisy went with us too and she played so well with the new puppies!

The kids had a great time.  My parents have a great big backyard and the weather was great!

How cute is this puppy and her sweater?

And this little pumpkin....she is a little sweetie!

Oh!  So many pups.  Daisy loved meeting her new friends!

This is a terrible picture, but I had the best bowl of lobster bisque at Daddy Jack's in downtown Fort Worth.  I love Daddy Jack's so I was thrilled when Gary picked it for his birthday dinner.

I had pecan crusted rainbow trout, veggies and a baked potato. Gary had stuffed shrimp.  It was stuffed with a ritz cracker stuffing. Oh it was oh so good and so rich. We all shared appetizers ... blue crab legs, crab cakes and mussels.  I didn't partake in the mussels, but I heard they were good.   For Gary's birthday dessert we had Key lime pie. 

It was a delicious evening!

We went to dinner with 2 other couples and we laughed the entire time.  I had the best time....I think we all did.  We all ate entirely too much food.  It was a great splurge night and we are so thankful for fun friends.

We met my parents on Sunday for lunch and I was thrilled to see my little loves. They had the best time with their grandparents! 

We all took naps and then we had birthday cake!

Mmmmm! Thanks Netsie for the delicious birthday cake!

We had hopes of playing outside Sunday afternoon, but we were all enjoying just being lazy.  That AND there was a dust storm.  It was so hazy and nasty outside.  The wind blew all day long.  You can't even see the sunshine through all the dust.  Yuck!

I love these three people so much!  I know I say it all the time.

We had a super fun weekend and I am hoping to spend a million more years with Gary so we can celebrate many many more fun birthdays!!

38

my best friend is 38 today!

happy birthday to the best husband and father on the planet!

beautiful weather

It was 70 degrees this afternoon so we played outside and enjoyed the warm temperatures!

Did you notice....they colored their entire swing set with chalk.       sigh. 

I love to watch the kids play.  They have the funniest imaginations.  They come up with the greatest games.  I could just sit and watch them and take pictures of them for hours.

I'm looking forward to spring time so we can have some green grass!  I love our yard in the spring and summer when the grass is green and fluffy.  The kids went bare footed today and said the grass was hard.  Can you believe it?  No shoes in January. 

After a fun time outside the kids came in and gave me a headache played pretty music. 

Her facial expressions are so funny!

Hayden jams out to a backward guitar.  I couldn't stop laughing at him.

I'm so thankful for these loud kids!

I cooked a whole chicken in the slow cooker

If I haven't mentioned it before I will now....raw chicken grosses me out!  I don't know why, but I have always had issues with chicken.  I rarely order chicken entrees when dining in restaurants.  If I eat chicken I usually cook it at home.  I will eat a chicken sandwich from Chic Fil A and I love a good chicken parmigiana dish from an Italian food restaurant.  I guess because the chicken is fried I feel as if it is cooked fully.  

Gary and I have always split kitchen duties.  He usually cooks all the meat, while I do all the veggies/side dishes.  Here lately, we are both branching out and learning more and more about each others cooking techniques.  Pretty soon I'll have him baking up a casserole.  I don't think I'll be firing up the ole smoker anytime soon...haha!  Can you see me grilling/smoking meat?

I dunno. 

I'm saying all this to tell you....

I cooked a whole entire raw chicken yesterday!!!!

This is big for me!

I touched it.  I washed it.  I seasoned it.  I put it in the slow cooker and cooked it!

Here is what I did:

I laid celery stalks and baby carrots on the bottom of the slow cooker.  I used my favorite chicken seasoning (remember my pantry necessities post ?) all over the chicken. I left the skin on because the skin will keep the chicken moist while cooking.  I placed the seasoned chicken into the slow cooker.  I then cut up one whole onion and laid the slices all around the chicken.  I then shut the lid!  

All done.  Silly, but I was nervous.

The waiting began.  

How long do I cook it?  Will it be raw in the center?

At 11:30 am I left the chicken alone in the slow cooker on high heat.  It started smelling so delicious!  I was so excited, but worried too.  After about 6 1/2 hours at 5:15 pm we were ready to dive in.

Gary skinned and de-boned the chicken and it tasted just like a rotisserie chicken from the deli!  Actually we could barely get the thing out of the slow cooker it was so tender.  It fell right off the bone.

Success!!

We ate the chicken with stir fry veggies and rice.  It was a great meal and now I have left over chicken for another recipe.  Maybe I'll make chicken salad.

I think I am a big girl now and I will not stress out about chicken any more.  I am bigger than any chicken.  My slow cooker and I can conquer any meat.  I know I am a goof, but y'all love that about me.

Have a great Wednesday!