"Because it's Carnival Time... Everybody's Havin' Fun!"

Let the party begin!


One of these days I hope to take the kids to Mardi Gras. But, alas, this will not be the year. Again.

We actually got some real, genuine King Cake when we briefly passed through New Orleans for my grandmother's funeral a couple weeks ago. A fellow Southerner also living in Red Deer passed this recipe along to me that she found on the net which uses crescent rolls to make your own King Cake. So we made two last week; one with cream cheese and apple pie filling, and one with cream cheese and cherry pie filling. Both were quite tasty. I was surprised, and impressed!


In other news, Sam brought me this heart that he chiseled from ice when they were playing outside on Valentine's Day. It's still in the freezer.


Here are some pics we took this afternoon. Full-tackle yoga!


And, it's been a while since we've had a gecko shot. I call this one "Gecko on Highly Polished Desk."

Please, Tooth Fairy?

She left a toonie for him! I REALLY thought you had to have the actual tooth. Live and learn.

funeral

Mamaw died a week and a half ago. Here's a picture of her and Sam when we visited her in Illinois in 2009.
I took Andy and Sam down to Alabama for her funeral this past weekend.



It was, or seemed, sudden. She wanted to go quickly, and it was so.


Papaw died nine years ago, and she was the last of her brothers and sisters to go.
I do believe she's having a great time catching up with them all now.

But she's missed.

We did some catching up of our own. It was great to see all the cousins, uncles, aunts, in-laws, and outlaws.



Sam took these next few.




Mamaw crocheted The Lord's Prayer several years ago, and it's hanging there in Southside Baptist Church where the reception was held. (Photo cred: Aunt Margie)



I do wish we'd try and get together on non-funeral occasions.

Later that evening...



One last visit to Mamaw and Papaw's grave before heading out of town.



Back to New Orleans, for a flight back to Calgary the next day.



Love you, Mamaw.

Sweet potato pancakes...off the cuff

One of my favorite things are sweet potato pancakes. We had some left-over roasted sweet potatoes in the fridge the other morning, so I decided to whip some up. I took the peel off before mashing, as large pieces of peel in my pancakes aren't appealing. (Peels on my roasted potatoes for dinner, however, are VERY desirable, and very nutritious.)


I used about half the potatoes I had left; I think I should have used them all.


I've done this before, sans recipe, and they turned out great. This time, they turned out so-so.


Flour, baking powder, cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg, milk. Turns out I forgot to add the oil. (Actually, we normally put melted butter in our pancakes.)


Did I mention this was a school day and I wasn't fully awake yet?


Nothin' but the best to top our sweet potato pancakes!


Why does she have the camera out at this hour?! Woman, just let me eat in peace.


Andy showing off his toonie that the Tooth Fairy left for him.


So they weren't the best pancakes ever, but they were warm, shaped appropriately, and had syrup on them. I distinctly remember being in Mamaw's kitchen in Dothan, Alabama one visit. I requested pancakes for breakfast. Now, pancakes were made with some regularity at home by Dad, and at my other grandparents' house outside of Chicago, by Papa. But at Mamaw and Papaw's house, eggs and bacon were the norm in the morning. So on this particular visit when I asked for pancakes, Mamaw got out the flour, baking powder, sugar, and eggs. What? No Bisquick? No Hungry Jack mix? I think it was the first time I had seen pancakes made from just the basic ingredients. Mind blowing, it was.

Sam turns SIX!!

Sam turned six years old earlier this week.


We had his party at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, where they have lots of interactive sports activities, and reasonable birthday party prices.

I spent a lot of time in the front area, where the cake, presents, snacks, coats, and more importantly, my purse were. But I ran around a few times to take some pictures.

Waiting patiently for a turn.


Climbing the never-ending climbing wall.

Trying out skeleton.


The putting green.

Wheel-chair racing.

The mini-curling table.


Singing Happy Birthday to the guest of honor.


His party was a couple days before his actual birthday. So on his real birthday, he was special helper at school, and we made whoopie pies (kinda like giant, homemade Oreos) to hand out as a special birthday snack in class. I saved four for us at home; he had fun sticking six candles into one whoopie pie.


Plus, we had LOTS of leftover birthday cake, to boot! Happy Birthday, Happy Boy.