Ari's talking

There are some sentences or conversations that we have with Arianna that I don't want to forget so from time to time I will write them here :)

For those that do not know, Penny was our cat that passed away on Thanksgiving weekend few years ago. 

Our daughter saw our guest Ezri and she said "Penny, Penny is here". I said no sweety, that is Ezri. We stayed with Ezri for a little bit and when we were leaving she said " ok Ezri, see you in the morning". I miss Penny now :(

 Yesterday,  "I love Kojak!"

"Mommy is time for bed now, not later"

"Look mama, a crescent moon"

"No, thank you.  I want the green dress"

An outing for the parents.

It has been awhile since we have gone out as a couple, we usually go out as a family and we love it.  But, this time Mike surprised me by buying tickets to see the musical/ play Pride and Prejudice so a date was set.  This picture was taken as we parked in downtown... since it was a weekend the price was not as bad as we thought.  You know how some parking lots go by different names per floor, this one had a "green theme".  I loved how colorful it was.

Our idea was to have dinner and then drive to the theater.  Now, Mike had promised me to take me back to Frontera Grill (restaurant), but for whatever reason it had been 3 years and we had not made it back so he drove there.  The owner is Rick Bayless and he has a new restaurant that opened recently, Xoco.  I wanted to try that one.  It was supposed to be faster, it is just tacos, tortas or soups, but when we got there we found out that it had more than one hour wait time.  I did not want to rush and we found plan B.  When we were parking, we saw a restaurant named Havana.  So, we tried it.

When we got there, it was not full.  We were seated right away under very nice chandeliers, soft music, and dim lighting.  The service was wonderful too.

Here are the pictures of some of the food that we ordered.  The steak was Cuban style, and had lots of flavor.  Mike ordered pork shops and they were very good and not dry!

But of course, my favorite part was the dessert.  I actually pick desserts first :)  This time I had to tried Strawberries with cream.  Mike had the lava cake and let's  not forget the awesome plantains.  We would love to go back, so we will see.  But, we definitely recommend this restaurant.

When we left the restaurant, I saw this car and was transported back in time....love the color as well.

I was playing with the camera trying to get a couple's shot when the waitress volunteer to take a picture.  Here are both pictures! 

Then, it was off to the play which was just lovely.  But since parking was hard, I did not have time to take pictures and when it finished I realized I left my camera in the car, so no picture of the theater.  But, we will try to do something like this in the near future.  Then, it was home to our darling Ari.  It is amazing how you just need an hour or so away sometime, but then we just miss her too much :)  (By the way, thanks for babysitting).

Monkey bread - The shorcut recipe (52 projects #7)

 I bought a container especially for making monkey breads and cake rolls about 2 months ago.  I'd never made or ate monkey bread before, so when I went to Target and saw the pan I figured it will be perfect for a project, but I was not much in the mood for baking until today.  Now, there are 2 ways to make monkey bread for what I read (I am sure there are more variations) but there is the quick and slow method.  I was trying to do the slow one, but I was missing two ingredients so I will have to try that one later.  The quick one is as follow:

Turn your oven to 350 F, In a container mix 1 package of 8 oz cream cheese and 4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/3 cup of granulated sugar.

Then, you need 2 packages of buttermilk biscuits.  Take one at a time and make it flat.  Pour a spoonful of the mixture with the cream cheese.  Make a little ball/ bag and make sure to close them as much as possible.

In a saucepan, melt one stick of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar until it makes a gooey sauce.

Put pecans in the bottom of the mold (this is optional)

Arrange your biscuits around, they are going to overlap.

Pour the brown sugar/ butter on top of the biscuits.

Put in the oven for 30 minutes (mine took more time -about 35 minutes)

Ari and I goofing around while waiting for the monkey bread to come out.

Once out of the oven, wait five minutes before flipping into a plate...

And voila... here is your monkey bread goodness.   Now, I need to consider something more healthy... maybe a salad?  But for now, this should do :)

WPP#10

I just happened to pass by when I saw that my "2 kittens" were entertained by our squirrels and birds.  Aren't they adorable?

Mike's birthday - Pictures

 

Mike's birthday party was quite nice, almost everyone was having a great time... except for my poor Raven that had a nasty stomach bug :(  but she was in good spirits.  So, this picture was taken after we gobbled the pizzas, especially the meat's lovers (well, I don't really care for that one) but it is very good if you like meat.  My favorite is the Hawaiian pizza, yummy!  We also had chips, ice cream and cake :)

My sister enjoying some computer time :)

Thank you Bob for coming and playing with all the kids.  Arianna is going to wait when you come next time so she can be an airplane again!

No hiding!  Ann next time you have to smile!  My camera and I will be waiting...

Mike's gifts had a theme - A baseball theme that is.  He got a Fisk Jersey from the 80's.  Thanks to Rebecca for recommending it, he loved it.  He also got a jacket!  Now, we just need to find a new hat to go with the outfit.  But otherwise he is ready for a ball game!

Raven slept during the party, but the boys and Scarlett were having a blast playing in the basement. (By the way, she is doing great now)

Mike is blowing his candle while covering Ari's eyes.  She did not like the flame this time.

Thank you everyone for the gifts and the good wishes.