Just call me Cruella Deville

I mentioned we just returned from a 3 week trip to Alabama.  That trip included nothing but fun, fun, chocolate milk and more FUN.  All rules were out the window, bedtimes were non-existent, candy was eaten for breakfast, popsicles for lunch and one green bean counts as "eating your vegetables."  Every wish was granted and there wasn't a single second that went by the boys were not thoroughly entertained.  

Enter: Reality.

We had to come back sometime and for the boys, it was a rude awakening.  It was Monday all day.  They weren't digging the rule following that's required to live here.  They didn't like that there were no "choices" for breakfast.  They didn't like being told of the list of laundry we had to accomplish that day.  Jackson had Science Camp and Lincoln was obligated to go with me to replenish the food supply in the house.  He wasn't used to my, "get in the car, put on your shoes" mantra.  He had gotten used to Nana doing all those things for him...and he liked it that way!  At our second errand for the morning, he was complaining in his usual Lincoln way. 

 He's always saying 

"YOU NEVER..."

 (ie. You Never let me eat candy for breakfast, or You Never help me find my shoes!)  

He was frustrated because I wasn't concerned with his "YOU NEVER" threats.

  He then told me, 

"Mom, You are the Most NOT funnest Evil Step-mother EVER!"

Oh, really?  

Since when was I anybody's Step-mother??

I wasn't happy at the time but looking back,  I had to laugh a little.  Never been called an evil step-mother before.  I am assuming it will only get worse before it gets better into the teen years. 

 Lord help us all!

Who do you think he was referring to?  Cruella?  Ursula?  Maleficent? Only Lincoln's little temper knows!

We were also making signs this week using spray paint and markers.  I am outside spray painting something and Lincoln comes out and says, "Mmm, actually, that spray paint smells kinda good!"

Help me, Jesus! 

 This boy.

Then moments later I'm writing with sharpie marker and he says, "Mom, that, um, pregnant marker smells kinda good too!"  (permanent marker)

Oh, no!  

Not only is he a mischievous little name caller, he's going to be a paint sniffer too?!? 

Hide yo markers, Hide yo chemicals.  Lock up your daughters.  

I'm fully expecting a note home from Kindergarten.

The LONG Road Home

We just spent the better part of June in Alabama.  A few backdated blogs will outline our trip of fun, fun and more fun.  We started the LONG journey home on Saturday night.  We knew it wouldn't be possible to make Lillian ride for the whole 15 hours so we decided to break it up.  We would leave around 8pm on Saturday and drive as long as we can and stop and get a room for a few hours.  I had requested that we choose somewhere to stop so I could look into hotels.  Jason insisted we could just stop somewhere.  I'm NOT a "let's just grab a room for the night" kinda girl.  I decided I had enough to keep up with and let him handle the room situation.
We made it to Vicksburg, MS and decided it was time to call it a night.  We stopped at a large exit and checked with 4 hotels...All booked solid.  We had to wonder, why on EARTH all the hotels in Vicksburg, MS would be booked up?  We never did find out what that town had to offer.  We went down a few exits and stopped at The Americas Inn and Jason got out.  He went up to the check-in WINDOW, yes, window and stood in line.  The kids and I are sulking in the car and I'm refusing to BLINK and trying to figure out how I'm going to explain to the kids why we are taking shifts to sleep.  Jason finally thought better of the situation and got back in the car.  Neither of us had to question his decision to leave.  It was a relief, even if it meant driving longer, much longer!
We hit the interstate with hopes of seeing another town soon.
We rolled into Tullah, LA a little after midnight.  Our first two hotels were a strikeout.  Our last resort was the Motel 8 on the opposite side of the interstate.  Jason went inside to check and came back out with good news and bad news.  Good news-they had two rooms left.  Bad news was there was one double-Smoking and one king-non-smoking.  Yep, you guessed it.  We were all sleeping in ONE bed that night.  It was only a mild sense of relief to be staying in a questionable hotel in the middle of nowhere. We quickly jerked the bedspread off bc they don't wash those you know. We checked the bedding, inspected the seams of the bed (like we'd even know what to look for in bed bugs) and gave the room a once over.  Then we piled the kids in bed, Lillian included. She probably had the most room of all because she was between Jason and I and we were both worried about her.   Everyone slept in their clothes and we had two toothbrushes between us as well.  While inspecting the room Jason noticed something was still in the mini microwave.  We DID NOT open to find out what.  I wondered if we would even get any sleep at all but surprisingly we all did sleep.  I woke up first around 7am and wasted no time dragging them OUT of that place!
 Who knew a family of 5 could occupy a King size bed!  It was worth it to be home at 3pm and not midnight on sunday night.  It really broke the trip up well.  Next time, I'll go with my gut and book us a room BEFORE we hit the road.

Mommie's Meatballs

I'm pretty sure I've never had a "secret family recipe" before now.  Everything I've learned to cook has been pretty full disclosure.  My grandmother's Macky Soup was more watched than written but I've since written it down for my sister and I don't mind if it's shared.  The chicken stew recipe of my Granny's is written but it's also a group effort so it would never be secret.  

This, this is OUR secret!   Mommie's meatball recipe has been officially passed on from the Yavarone's to the deFoor family.  This was my first attempt but it was a smashing success!  Mommie is our Ms.Marie's mother.  Mrs. Yavarone is what I would have called her if I had ever had a chance to meet her.  She had the best meatballs and supposedly the best eggplant parmesan from New Jersey to Tennessee.  I'm hoping for that secret next!

Our eggs are even TEXAS proud!  

I used my good ol' trusty dutch oven to get the special sauce going while I mixed up the ingredients for the meatballs.

These delicious and moist meatballs ended up feeding us twice!   I easily froze half of them for a future meal.

 You are now looking at the richest most deliciously tomatoey sauce and delectably moist meatball you'll ever have the pleasure of eating.

We had ours on spaghetti squash.  It wasn't without a few groans around our carb loving table but after they tried the sauce, they forgot all about the noodles (or lack thereof).  So you want the recipe?

Not a chance!  You'll just have to be a guest at our table to get your mouth on one of these babies!  But trust me, if you find yourself seated in front of a plate of these, #1 you are special because I cooked them for you and #2 you are in for a treat!