UFC 185: Battle of the Bulge

Hello, my blog friends. How's life treatin' ya? Halloween is this week - woo hoo! As many of you know, this is my favorite time of year! I love to see all of the costumes and scaries. Drew is going to be a skeleton (not MY choice) and the Little Miss is going to be a ballerina. Clara and her mom are suppose to come over for some treatin' and eatin' - ha, I just thought of that - I'm funny. (I promise I am not drinking - it's 3:00!). 3:00 and we're waiting on a call back from CareNow to take Drew back up there to have them look at this....



No, not his teeth. (He thinks he's pretty funny). But, the nice little gash across his nose. I received the call on Friday that I knew would come one day, but I was dreading. "Lisha, you need to come get Drew, he's probably going to need stitches." Ugh! Poor thing... he tripped and planted his face right into the slide at school. Of course, you know me, always the calm one. "Bobby, Drew hurt himself - What do I do? Where do I take him? To Dr. Kaplan? To the emergency room? To the care clinic? Can you come home? Meet us there? Help!" Sigh..... Anyhoo... I took him to the CareNow just about 3 minutes from his school. They gave me the option to have it glued or to have stitches. I couldn't stand the thought of him getting stitches, so I opted for the glue. It was easy, painless, and he was back to rolling around on the floor by that night!

We had a nice weekend with Uncle Eric and Aunt Jen. Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures because my camera died. I did manage to eeck out a couple of my yummy potato casserole that I made for breakfast. Anyone who has had dinner here multiple times has probably had my potatoes supreme. They are quick and easy and I make them a lot! Well, I was eating them the other day and thought - hmmmm.... I can add ham to this and make a breakfast casserole. So... that's what I did:






POTATOES SUPREME - BREAKFAST STYLE!
1 bag cubed potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
2 cups of mild cheddar cheese
1 small to medium onion, chopped
12 oz. cubed ham
1/2 cup melted butter (mmmm)
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of dijon mustard (grainy) - I did steal this little ingredient from another breakfast casserole recipe - thanks, Rayne!
8-9 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 bunch chopped chives

Combine all ingredients (except the bacon and chives). Cook at 425 for one hour. Sprinkle with the bacon and chives and serve - easy cheesy and delicious! So, let me know if you try it, like it, love it, gain 10 pounds from it!

Speaking of... Bobby and I love the UFC (Ultimate Fighting for anyone who doesn't know). We use to buy all of the Pay-Per-View fights, we watch the reality show, etc... So... in the spirit of the UFC (no, we're not body slamming each other), we decided, along with my brother and Jen, to have our own UFC - Ultimate Fit Challenge - complete with nicknames, of course!

Eric "The Pounds Have Fled" Domstead
Jennifer "Sweet Tooth" Domstead
Bobby "Lighter" Snyder
Lisha "I still don't have a nickname" Snyder

This is where YOU come in. For all of the 5 people that may read my blog, I need you to vote on a nickname for me! I tried to add a nifty poll, but I keep getting errors, so take a minute to vote (leave me a comment)! It's crucial to my success in this challenge! I wanted "Go Figure" - you know, kind of a play on words, but they said that was lame :(. I thought it was clever. Here are your options:

Lisha "I'll Have Fries with That" Snyder
Lisha "Hold The Mayo" Snyder
Lisha "Are You Gonna Eat That?" Snyder
Lisha "Go Figure" Snyder
Or, come up with your own name for me - be nice!!!!

I had to take a pic of the Little Miss in her first pair of tights! She can finally wear them, so we wore them with a little mini-skirt to the baby shower for my dear, sweet friend Amy (Rollins) Maxwell this weekend. I have known Amy since about the 4th grade! She's having her 3rd baby, a girl, Lexey DeeAnn!



And, here's a pic of the darling little ones whose birthday party we went to this weekend. Luke turned 2 and his sister, Aly, turned 4! Aren't they precious!



Okay, friends, I am off for now. Thanks for checking in!
Eric and Jen, thanks for a fun weekend!!!

Clara Kate and Other Things I 'Heart'

What a bad blogger, step-mom, daughter-in-law I have been! I completely missed two very important birthdays - only in the blog world, though - I am not that forgetful!

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Clara Kate Snyder blessed this world 14 years ago on October 15. I met Clara when she was around 5. She was, and still is, the sweetest little thing. Whether waking us up in the mornings when she was SEVEN to ask if she could make us breakfast or calling during my pregnancies to see how I was feeling - Clara is always thinking about others first. She's smart, funny and my goodness is she photogenic....

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So to Clara, let's raise a glass (of root beer, of course) and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Another special birthday that deserves a tribute is that of BOB MURFIN. Daddy Bob, Papa, Billy Bob. This, of course, is Bobby's step-dad Bob who turned ?! on October 14. Happy, Happy Birthday, Bob - a wonderful father-in-law who can dish it out as well as he can take it - my kind of man!

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Okay, so on to the "other things I 'heart'". I keep telling Bobby I want to start a list for the fridge. Anyone in the family can stop by and jot down something they LOVE. Other than the obvious - family, etc... Just things that make us say "Awww... THIS is life". It can be something as simple as a rainy day or something as profound as the birth of our children! Here are some of mine, and I do think I will start this list - today! I can't wait to get a little insight on what makes my family happy!

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I LOVE:

A good cup of coffee in the morning

Cold sheets in a warm bedroom

A rainy day (when I can stay home and relax)

Cuddling with my babies

A good, deep conversation with Carrine, Clara or Bobby

Massages!

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What do YOU 'heart'????

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Okay, so I tend to think I am the witty one in the family, but dern if that hubby of mine doesn't have a little funny in him! In sharing some pics of Kenna with some of his friends, one commented that she looked just like him. They asked if any of his other kids looked as much like him and here was his response:

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Oh... the suspense.

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You ready.....?

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That made me laugh - I mean hard. I sat down in front of the computer this morning and saw that on e-mail - hilarious.

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Well, have a wonderful weekend, my friends. We have Aunt Jen and Uncle Eric visiting us this weekend along with a double birthday party and a baby shower. Whew. I need a nap already!

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Adios!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Uncle Eric!

This is SO long overdue, but Happy Belated Birthday, Brother/Uncle, Eric!!! (October 16). Uncle Eric lives in Austin, so we don't get to see him as often as we'd like. Drew reminds me so much of him when Eric was little! We hope you had a great birthday - we love you and miss you bunches!!




Sorry, Eric... I just had to...






And the best for last.... he, he!!! Happy Birthday, Bro!

Great Friends, Great Weather

A few years ago, I met a business associate (April) for lunch. During our conversation, we discovered that both of our husband's had an interest in paddling (kayaks/canoes). At that time, Bobby was just getting into it and her husband, Jason, had apparently been doing it for several years. That lunch led to the boys e-mailing about paddling, which lead to them meeting to paddle. April and I actually never saw each other after that day, as she left that company soon after to go to work for another company. Over the years, however, I have seen her husband and her son, Ayden, several times at races, etc... This past weekend, we had them over for dinner. What a delightful time (did I really just type DELIGHTFUL?)! However, it was! We found out that not only do BOTH of our kids have birthdays just one day apart (Ayden - Feb. 24, Drew - Feb. 25; Eliot - July 11, Kenna - July 10), but April and I both are account managers in telecom and our husbands are both project managers!!! Now, Ayden is 2 years older than Drew and Bobby and Jason work in different industries, but come on - weird huh? (Insert the theme to the Twilight Zone here!). We truly had such a great time with them - we have a lot in common, and I am so looking forward to getting to know them better. We'll see them again tomorrow (Saturday) for The Trinity River Challenge (kayak/canoe race), and we also have a short trip planned in December. Drew loves his new friend, Ayden and wants him to "Come spend the night sometime".

Ayden and Drew - new buddies!

Love this... the guys both feeding the babies!!

Eliot (Ellie) Awww....

Last weekend, we also headed to the pumpkin patch. It was in Selina, which was a longer drive than I thought it would be. Drew had a great time, though, and some of these pictures from that day still make me laugh. He was scouring the field for that perfect pumpkin! It was a little windy and overcast, but cool. I so 'heart' this weather! I bought a yummy creme' brulee candle from Williamson County Candle Company and I have been burning it everyday while enjoying this nice weather that we are FINALLY getting! So, enjoy this weather, enjoy these pictures and until next time.... :)

This cracks me up...

Hmmm... too small.

Nah, these don't feel right.

I think this is the one, Mom!

Thinking Boy

"Ladies Night, Oh What a Night!"

So what a weekend we had! I headed to Austin to spend some quality girl time with my Austin buddies, Shae and Dana!

First, a 90 minute hot stone massage followed by a pedicure! The massage was nice, but I would have much preferred a 90 minute Swedish. There was too much time wasted going back and forth to get the stones, etc... Rub, woman, rub!

"Ooo, I'm melon-toed!"


Saturday night, we headed to dinner at Trudy's. Shae and I split some TO DIE FOR Tilapia Quesadillas and had Trudy's famous Mexican Martini's - Yuuummmmyyyy. After dinner, we had about 2 hours until our comedy show started. Shae was familiar with a band - LC Rocks - that was playing at a local pub. Hilarious, these guys! They are a true "hair" band that does 80's cover songs. Think Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi. They even had their little fans blowing on them so their mullets would blow while they jammed! It was a BLAST!

Cute little man who was rocking to LC Rocks with his daughter - he was 76! Precious.

We then headed to The Capital City Comedy Club to see Carlos Alazraqui from Reno 911. He was hilarious, as well, and stuck around for pictures after the show.

We called this guy "Edward Beer Hands". He had on surgical gloves and was scooping up all of the empties...

Back to Sherlock's for more head bangin'...

Then home... but, not before stopping to take more pictures....

Scary Red-Eyed Pig

Stopping in someone's yard - sometime in the a.m. - to take pictures of their scaries!

I stayed up WAY past my bedtime, but wouldn't trade our night for a little sleep! Good times, good times!!!

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While I was having a "free" day, Drew spent time with Uncle Eric, Aunt Jenii (yes, two i's) :) and Uncle Clay. I know he had a great time - he has asked at least 4 times if he can go back or if Aunt Jenii can come spend the night with him!