The Meal of a Prince......

....or a pauper??

SHRIMP & GRITS!!!

In most any southern restaurant around here, the shrimp and grits entree is an elegant, expensive dish.

Not so much here.....um, that is when this happens --

~~use leftover grits from breakfast on Sunday morn....adding cream and a lil bit of jack cheese~

~~use shrimp that wasn't used in the fried shrimp dinner on Saturday night~~

~~add cubed smoked ham and roasted red bell peppers from fridge~~

and your meal goes from elegant to "fancy leftovers"!!!

No complaints around here....YUM!

Mudbugs!

Oh Yeah Babee.......!!!!

They're back!!!!!

Because we only had ONE weekend of winter weather this year, the crawfish crop is going to be a whopper of a season. 

And we had our first crawfish boil  last weekend with family.

Nothing better than a lazy Saturday afternoon sitting around talking, laughing and eating mudbugs, corn, potatoes, sausage, mushrooms, boiled eggs.....

Not to mention a lil crawfish race with the grandchirren!!

and hanging with my favorite gal pals!

And we are always so happy when the 2nd cousins can hang together and play too!!

ELEVEN (11!) of  'em!!!!

Under the age of 7!!!!

Don't be talkin' bout Valentines Day today...............

......cuz it's my BABY BOY'S BIRTHDAY today!!!  He spent his whole growing up life having to share HIS day with red hearts and love notes and fancy talk about l-o-v-e!!!!  So now that he's...ahem...in his 30's, I always try to make it just about his special day.  (not so sure the little grandchildren agree with that!)  I do know one thing -- he has grown up into one of the most responsible, independent, hard working men I know.  I respect him more today than I ever have.  Add loving father to that list and well.......brings a tear to this ol' mom's eye!!

He's pretty cute too!

HOPE YOU'VE HAD A PEACEFUL, NOT WORK TOO HARD KINDA DAY....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!

(notice there is no red nor one heart in this post!!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - YESTERDAY - CAP'N!

February 8 was Cap'n's birthday and I didn't get to post ON his birthday because we spent a few days at the deer camp and I was out of internet......but you have to know that he LOVED being at his cabin to celebrate!  It was just the two of us and a very relaxing time.....it's almost as if time stands still when you're one with nature and enjoying the simpleness of outdoor beauty!

We took off in the morning and made a first stop at Burge's Barbeque joint!  It's an old fashioned diner with the best pork sandwiches, cheeseburgers and onion rings.  They do all of the ageing of the beef they use for catering and I thought this sign very appropriate for the Birthday Boy!

With full bellies, we took off to our farmland to wander and explore on a warm sunny day!

What to my wondering eyes did I see?  A sight that mah boyfriend and my sons see so often during hunting season, but something I'd not seen.

As we rode along the flooded rice fields....see the long white line??

Hundreds and hundreds of snow geese!!

they got a lil spooked the closer we got and began to fly....

A beautiful sight and the honking of so many geese just tickled me.

and from the other direction, you can see the black and white down of the geese.

I wish the images showed the real glory of the way this really looked!

Next, was a ride to a high point of land where Cap'n spent a lot of time clearing out a spot to view the winding beauty of the mighty Red River

Once we got back to the cabin, it was time to spend a little quiet time swinging in the swing he made for me to rock my grandbabies and enjoy the gorgeous views of the land!

and to enjoy a lil treat of marinated crab claws that I'd put together the day before!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAP'N!!!!!!

Hope you had as much fun on your birthday as I did!!!!!

Just Wait Till You See This Sweet Celebration!

Yesterday, February 4, 2017

                                         HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY LANE DUPRE!!!!

“Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were--Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter. ” ...                                      ~Beatrix Potter~

Lane, my 6th grandchild, had his first birthday party yesterday at his Lulu's house and OH MY what a party it was!! The theme was Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and my daughter in law outdid herself with creativity and and fun for this party.  Above, you can see the sweet boy enjoying a lil lunch before the big birthday cake tasting....he has not had one sweet thing yet in his life!!  And he really did not want to play the game!!

our lil birthday boy even as his party was starting!!! He had to be woken to P-A-R-T-A-Y!!

just look at the adorable table decorations his mom came up with!

everything in peter rabbit pastels...cake pops to look like radishes!

all of the serving pieces were lined with natural lettuces and leaves and the flowers looked like they'd just picked from the rabbit garden!

she had a cabbage planting station set up for the bigger kids to plant and take home a cabbage!

tables for the little ones to sit to eat or color!

and peter rabbit goldenbooks all wrapped up as favors to take home!!

cousins together at the party!

WHAT a fun party it was and WHAT a beautiful family they are!!

If it's February, it's gotta be somebody's birthday around here....AUSTIN REX!!!

SO...............THERE IS THIS LITTLE BOY THAT STEALS MY HEART EVERY TIME I HEAR HIM                               CALL MY NAME...
YAYA....HE OFTEN SAYS....ALOT OF THE TIME!  COME TO THINK OF IT....ALL OF THE                     TIME!!
YET, EVERY TIME I HEAR HIM, I GIGGLE AND REALIZE JUST HOW SPECIAL HE IS AND HOW VERY LUCKY WE ARE TO HAVE HIM AS PART OF OUR FAMILY.  HE'S A MIRROR IMAGE OF HIS DAD, MY OLDEST SON, SO WHEN I'M WITH HIM, I FEEL LIKE I'M 30 YRS YOUNGER AND LIVING LIFE ALL OVER AGAIN!!! (except for the bad eyes, sore muscles, bad back, gray hair and um.....the body! hahahaha!)

HOPING YOUR BIRTHDAY WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!