Skating, really?

I've been meaning to post about this since our niece's birthday party on September 12th. Jud's twin sister's daughter, Gracie, turned 3 on September 11th. So, Jud's sister rented a local church's life center for the party, which has roller skates and rollerblades for people to skate in the gym there. Well, part way through the party, I walk into the gym to see this:

Are you kidding me?? MY HUSBAND is putting on rollerblades?

Yep, he put them on, grinned and grabbed the door facing!

Going to skate on the carpet!! He thought it would be easier.

Was it? I guess, until his dad sent him back to the gym. It only took a few minutes after that for him to take them off!! But, it was very funny to watch him!! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did when I saw him! I just wish that I had it on video!

Good night, Everyone!!

I'm a Winner!

Yep! You heard me! I won my first blog Giveaway!! I've been following Lisa over at Livin' Louisiana and she had a giveaway for a $10 gift card to Walmart for telling her what she could do different with her blog. In all honesty, I love her blog and I don't think she needs to change anything. So, I received the gift card in the mail yesterday with a note that she was sending a little something else in a separate package today!! In the package was a set of four Fleur de Lis coasters that Lisa makes!! They are beautiful! In fact, I took pictures of them, but I have decided not to post my pics!! You'll have to visit her Site to see them and order you a set or two also!! I'm already loving my set! Thank you, Lisa!!

Evening visitor!

Jud, Wesley and I were enjoying a nice and quiet evening last night. We had eaten dinner and were watching a movie together. We had caught the last half hour of "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey." Wesley was sitting in his swing, Jud in his recliner and I in my spot on the sofa. The animals had just gotten to the pound when Jud left the room for a minute and the animals began to escape while the rest of the animals in the pound began to have a fit. While these animals were barking and howling, when I heard something at our front door. So, I open our wooden door to see this:

This is our pal from across the street. We believe he is a Great Pyrenees. But, he is big! He usually visits during daytime hours, but he came late last night.

These last two pictures were taken on a different day just to give you an idea of his size!

Many people that walk our streets our scared of him......

But, how could anyone be scared of this sweet puppy?? He really has become our pal! This morning as I was thinking about this post, I looked out the door and he was laying out in our yard! I would hear barking, so I would look and he would be following the walkers and bicyclists, barking at them! He's already begun to protect us too!!

9 Months, Are you sure?

As I've posted before, Wesley's birthday was last month. Well, his Aunt Ashley didn't get to come down at that time. She came last week and had gotten him a new toy for his birthday. (He was given a lot of toys for his birthday. It's just that this one has a story to it already!) It was Playskool's Busy Ball Popper. This thing is great! It pops the balls up in the air, sometimes a foot up! Then, some (in theory, I'm sure all were supposed to) land back in the orange tray, drop down to the blue slide and go through the purple tube to the bottom to be shot right back up. Below is the toy and the box to it:

And, a closeup of the Popper:

In action:

Now, look back at the very first picture at the top right hand corner of the box. See the Ages over 9 months. Well, my mom (Wesley's NaNa) and I sat down with Wesley to show it to him, and not only did he love it, but we were tickled with it too. A very entertaining toy. Well, Wesley was supposed to stay with his NaNa and PopPop while Jud and I went to Shreveport to see Wesley's Aunt Ashley at the hospital. So, later in the afternoon NaNa and PopPop got down there with him and PopPop joined in on the fun! Then, when Jud and I got back, I was showing him how it worked and you should have seen him!! I believe they should emphasize the OVER 9 months!! This is such a cute toy!! And, Wesley has figured out to wait until the air stops blowing to drop the balls down the yellow tube and, then, to push the red button to start it up again!! He's SO smart!

#54. When I get my Trifle bowl, make the Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle.

I have now completed my third task of my 101 in 1001! #54 When I get my Trifle bowl, make the Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle. This recipe came from the Pampered Chef's Season's Best Spring/Summer 2009 Recipe Collection. One of my close friends sells Pampered Chef and I found this recipe because of her. I made this dish September 1st.

Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle

Ingredients:

• 18 Whole Graham crackers (5 x 2 in.), divided
• 3/4 Cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 Container (12 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
• 1 Pkg. (3.4 oz.) banana cream instant pudding and pie filling
• 1 Cup milk
• 1 Lemon
• 4 Large Bananas

1. Finely chop half of a graham cracker using a chopper; set aside. Coarsely crumble remaining crackers into small mixing bowl.
2. For ganache, place chocolate morsels and 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping into a small bowl. Microwave on HIGH 45-60 seconds or until melted and smooth, stirring every 15 seconds or until melted and smooth, stirring every 15 seconds. Combine pudding mix and milk in a medium mixing bowl; whisk until mixture begins to thicken. Fold in remaining whipped topping; set aside.
3. Juice lemon to measure 2 tbsp. juice. Peel bananas and cut into 1 1/2 in. pieces. Slice pieces into medium batter bowl. Add lemon juice and toss gently. Set aside 12 slices for garnish.
4. To assemble trifle, place half of the crumbled graham crackers over bottom of Trifle Bowl. Place half of the bananas over the crackers, arranging some of the bananas against sides of bowl, and top with one-third of the ganache (see Cook's Tip). Spread half of the banana filling over ganache, spreading to edges. Repeat layers one time. Decorate with remaining ganache. Sprinkle top of trifle with chopped graham cracker. Arrange reserved banana slices around the edges of trifle. Yields: 16 Servings

Cook's Tip: To get a good visual of the ganache layers, spoon ganache into resealable plastic food storage bag. Trim corner of bag to allow ganache to flow through. Pipe around the inside edges of the bowl, then drizzle remaining ganache over the bananas.