It's Beginning to Look a lot Like ... Mother's Day?

Just wanted to send out a special Mother's Day message to all the mothers and future mothers in my life. Your nurturing and loving ways through God's grace are going to change this world through your children. Thank you for all that you did, do, will do!
(Pictures of May 7th snow "storm" that lasted all of 48 hours. David decided to make some snowballs...look more like hay bails.)

Movie Review: The Terminal (2004)

We rented The Terminal the other night. It was a clever, quirky film, starring Tom Hanks. I like him as an overall actor, and he did well in this film, too. Your heart goes out to this foreigner as he bides his time in an airport terminal while his country is fighting for peace (oxymoron, but we often fight for peace). Anyhow, it is a different film, low action, slightly slow moving, but interesting & clever non the less. I would recommend renting & watching once, don't buy. Same as Cast Away. You can only watch it once.

Tres Cinco de Mayo Anniversary

Today is my Dearly Beloved's (DB) and my third wedding anniversary. Whoo-hoo! It's surprising how fast it went these past few years. I always had a little crush on him in highschool. He was so hot with his trumpet and when he was playing basketball. I guess he played football, but I didn't pay attention to the games. (You can't tell them apart in their helmets anyhow!) We started dating May 2006, fell head-over-heels in love June. He proposed August 26th. We were wed about 9 months later. Three years later, he still treats me like his new bride. Mu-wah!

I Love My Pot

I bought a cast iron dutch oven a few months back, but didn't want to "recommend" it until I tried it out. I love it. Lodge makes a fabulous line of cast iron cookware, pre-seasoned. On the PBS show "Cook's Kitchen" they trialed many skillets, and found that among the stainless steel, Teflon, and cast iron, they recommended the Lodge cast iron over all the rest in ease of cleaning, food not sticking, & food taste. The only down side is that it's heavy, but that was no surprise. They also recommended, amongst all different blenders, the Kitchen Aide blender over all the rest. I have that too, so I must be doing something right at choosing kitchen accessories. Now if only I knew how to use them all! Haha
http://www.americastestkitchentv.com/

Blog Update

On the bottom of my blog, I've added a "baby ticker" from http://lilypie.com. It's pretty cool. You get to see the little cartoon "Christi" with a growing belly and a little update as to how BB1 is developing. Check it out above our wedding pic. 14 Weeks is welcoming me into the 2nd trimester!

Easter @ the Brooks' Pics

My digital camera-to-computer hookup wasn't working at the time of Easter, so here's a little catchup. Pics: #1 Matt & Puppy, #2 Grandmas, #3 DB hog-tying Jackie, #4 Josh & Mark blowing bubbles, #5 Jr, Jen, Jackie (behind/under James' dog, & Kim).

Mom's Home!

Mom's home after being gone for 1,2,3,4,5 months. We had a family get together the day after Ma & Earl came home. They still had a full trailer in Ely as well as a messy house and an obese dog to walk (sorry Kirby), but they still took the time to come see family. Pictures: #1 DB dressing Ruby up in his "Earl-the-Pearl" shirt, #2 Ruby & Gramma Koney, #3 everything is bigger in Tx, look at the size of these marshmallows. I couldn't even drink my hot cocoa with the marshmallow in it!

My Little Lexie Girl

Lexie has been such special addition to our family. Here I'm assuming that she a delicate, little lady whom I have to protect. But when her and David go for walks around the yard, and she spots a deer, she takes off in a flash, chasing it down the trail. She comes back when called, but she's not my dainty flower at that point, she's a 15# of pure hunter. David taught her to play ball with us. She must have never played before because she did not know what to do with it. DB actually had to get her revved up & excited for it in order for her to play. She's such a good companion and always at my side. Be it in the kitchen, garden, or napping on the couch, she's always by my side. I never knew I could have so much love for my little critter.

April 28th

Happy 63rd Birthday, Dad. We love you & miss you, so much!

Make Your Own "Cream of..." Soup

I always use cream of whatever soup. Here's what I found incase you are in a pinch!
Make your Own "Cream of ..." Soup
http://www.cheapcooking.com/
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1 cup milk

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over it and stir to incorporate. Cook over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the milk.

Cream of chicken
If you want to make a cream of chicken flavored sauce, use half broth and half milk. If you have troubles getting this to be smooth, try heating the milk or broth before adding to the flour and butter. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, barely simmering, for a few minutes until thick.

Cheese sauce
To make a cheese sauce, add grated cheese and stir until melted.

Cream of celery or mushroom
To make a cream of something, saute 1/4 cup or so finely chopped celery, mushrooms, or onion in the butter before adding the flour and use half broth and half milk.

13 Weeks

Fingerprints have formed on baby's tiny fingertips, veins and organs are clearly visible through the still-thin skin, and its body is starting to catch up with its head — which makes up just a third of the body size now. Baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce. Baby can now suck its thumb!
That being said, I have been doing relatively good at still fitting into my regular clothes. I had to be a little creative, but was still pulling it off...until I went to switch from my nice work pants to my house pants and realized that my zipper had busted. WIDE OPEN, not able to be salvaged. I chalked it up to them being old pants. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Midnight Giggles

The weirdest thing happened last night. I had woken up sometime during the night and was petting Dave's shoulder. I was still in a 1/2 sleep and couldn't figure out what I was touching. I thought it was either a knee or a baby's head. I kept stroking his shoulder until eventually Dave rolled over and I fully woke. Realizing what I had been petting, I was struck with the giggles, that I could not control or stop.
Early morning, around 3 or 4 AM, Dave starts laughing. He is downright giggling in his dream. He is still 1/2 asleep when he proceeds to tell me about a dream involving flying boats. (I still don't get it.) Weird Midnight Giggles. Apparently the Sand Man mixed in a little laughing gas.

12 Week Check-Up Today

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. The face looks unquestionably human: the eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and the ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs 1/2 an ounce. David and I heard Baby Brooks' heartbeat today. 160 BPM then followed by a thump. Dr said it was baby kicking. Then I laughed, which caused another thump. Pretty cool! I had to dress up for a luncheon we were hosting at work so I was wearing some dressier, pre-pregnancy clothes and my staff was laughing at my already showing tummy. Hi there Baby Brooks! Can't wait to meet you!

Spring Flu Bug

Got sick this weekend with a 24 hour flu bug. Spent the whole Sunday sucking on Mr. Freezies and watching old movies. I wish I could have read, but the muscles in my eyes hurt too badly. Isn't it weird where you hurt when you're ill? You hurt in places you never thought you could. You notice muscles you never paid attention to before you got sick. Anyhow, DB took good care of me and it's back to the grindstone today. Thanks Honey. Mu-wah.

Go Natural in Your Spring Cleaning

Here's a snippit of information I got from s newletter at work.
* For general cleaning/disinfecting: 1 C. Borax with 1 gal warm water.
* Window cleaner: 2T. vinegar with 1 Qt warm water.
* Tub & Tile cleaner: mix equal parts vinegar & water and use backing soda for scouring.
* Toilets: 1 part baking soda to 4 parts vinegar.
* Dishwashing detergent: equal parts Borax & Baking Soda.
http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/

Painting

We finished painting the ceiling on the "Yellow" southwest bedroom tonight. David had finished with the mud and taping and last weekend we primed. Why does it always seem that no matter how hard you try, you always get pain on your forearms? The worst is when you don't see it until the next day when you're reporting to your staff or talking to your boss and spot it. And what do you do? Force out an embarrassed chuckle and say "guess what I was doing last night?" Just so they don't assume it was from last week and that you don't shower. And of course you touch it and give it a tug like it's totally new to you. Once you get back in your office, you cuss yourself out for wearing short sleeves that day as you pinch and pull and scratch that glop of paint on the back of your forearm until it pulls out your arm hairs and turns your skin red. Naa, never happened to me before. :)

Payless Airwalk Crocs

Never, I said never would I wear Crocs. Those ugly looking shoes would never find their way to my feet. Yea, I said that about bell bottoms too back in the '80's.
I found a pair @ Payless for $3. I thought, what the heck, I'll see what the big deal is about these plastic casings people call 'shoes'. Well they are terribly COMFORTABLE! I still won't wear them out of my house unless I'm taking the dog out or emptying the compost bucket, but they are perfect house shoes, better than my slippers as they actually supply my flat arches with support. The only thing that the Airwalks would benefit from would be air holes as they are made of non-breathing plastic. But this much comfort for $3, who can complain?

The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert

I heard this song for the first time the other day and it brought tears to my eyes. Why is it we feel 'like ourselves' in our childhood home? You could walk in and navigate the whole building with your eyes closed. You know exactly when to duck under a low board in the stairwell. Your growling stomach directs you to the fridge without brain involvement. The air outside even smells the same and you're even used to which direction to expect the wind. You can visualize the hay bails in the back 40, Ma cooking in the kitchen, or where your cat had its kittens. You can remember where you fell the first time Dad took off your training wheels. Or the helicopter tree you used to climb.Hmmm...

I know they say you can't go home again.
I just had to come back one last time.
Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam.
But these hand prints on the front steps are mine.
And up those stairs, in that little back bedroom
is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar.
And I bet you didn't know under that live oak
my favorite dog is buried in the yard.

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years.
From "Better Homes and Garden" magazines.
Plans were drawn, concrete poured,
and nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama's dream.

You leave home, you move on and you do the best you can.
I got lost in this whole world and forgot who I am.

Chorus:
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I'm someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself
if I could just come in I swear I'll leave.
Won't take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.

Introducing Baby Brooks

OK, so that's no way to make an announcement...kumquat! Sheesh! :) I should do what my 5 year old nephew Marky did at Easter dinner on Sunday...go outside onto the deck and scream from the top of my lungs "AUNTIE CHRISTI'S GONNA HAVE A BABY!!!" I wonder if he knows what it means. :) We did pretty good at keeping it a secret for the past 5 weeks. At 8 weeks we saw & heard the heartbeat. WOW is all I could say as I wiped away a tear. (My Dr wrote the "hi mom" on BB's ultrasound pic.) I am currently 10 weeks pregnant. Due date: 11/02.

Introducing...my kumquat

Auntie Em, Auntie Em!

It was a beautiful day today! The ducks are back, swimming in our back pond, there are Canadian goose tracks in the driveway, and even the frogs are ribbiting for spring. On our walk today, Lexie and I had it easy going one direction, but on the last mile home, I thought we were going to be hit by a twister! Ok, so I exaggerate, but my hair was whipped straight back as well as my coat and the poor dog, who's tail is usually curled up on her back, couldn't even keep her ears or tail up. We were quite a sight, fighting our way back to the house against the Wind-say winds, as Pooh would say. Squinting and walking like Frankenstein. But the exercise was good and so was the, um, fresh air. But I'll take it to have spring temps like this in March. 65 today!

Nashwauk-Keewatin Greenway Titans

Nashwauk-Keewatin has joined with Greenway in a majority of their sports, including wrestling, golf, cross country, hockey, and others I missed. It was announced on the news last night that the vote came down that they will now be the Blue & Green Titans. I expected "Spaders" (Spartans+Raiders), but I didn't vote. The schools themselves are still seperate, but still history in the making...like when Nashwauk-Keewatin joined.

Friday Night Bowling

So date night was spent at the local home, boat, & travel show. Afterwards,a rousing game of bowling. Two exactly. David has his own ball and shoes whilst I use the rent-a-foot-disease shoes and the 20# bowling ball with the too small of holes. Na, it wasn't that bad...my score was, but we had a blast. There were a few families there, so I think they had the lighter balls. So in-between throwing my shoulder out on my rare strikes, I enjoyed watching the kids do better than me. Dave always does better than me, so I can't compete with him. The three year old little girl next to me had a better score. Maybe because she would get excited, spin around, and dance every time she threw the ball. I have never seen a bowling ball travel more slowly than that one. Many times I wondered if it would even make it down to the pins. That's it. Next time I'm going to throw it between my legs at excruciatingly slow speeds, dance and laugh at myself and use the bumper lane. Or drink more alley beer. We'll see. All in all, it was a hoot to people watch and D&I found out that we really need to do this more than just a few times a year.

March 24th First Clothes to Hang Outside

I love to hang my sheets out on the line. Since my Little Girl Lex like to sneak into our room during the day and sleep on our bed, my chocolate brown comforter had little white hairs all over. So I washed the sheets & bedspread and hung them out to dry. Mmmm, one of my favorite scents, back again for another year! 60 degrees outside today! I even downgraded from the 3-season jacket to a sweatshirt when Lexie & I did our 2-mile walk today and opened the windows to get the dull winter air out of the house.

Salad Spinner

I'm generally pretty frugal with what I buy for my house and kitchen. I hate having too much "stuff" that I can't get to and thereby, don't use. One of the best purchases I made recently is a new salad spinner. Sister Kelly had one, so I copied and bought myself one from Walmart for $3. I loved it, especially since I grew leaf lettuce and spinach last year in my garden. It worked great. The only downfall was that the bowl that held the spinner had holes in the bottom (to let the water out). And it always had to be used in the sink. Sister Jen picked a new one up for me. Smaller, but way more efficient. No holes in the bottom, easy to spin with a trigger vs a spinning handle, and it even has a brake. I even like throwing my diced tomatoes in there and giving them a spin before putting them in my salad to get rid of excess moisture and seeds - ewwey! So if I may make a suggestion: if you like to rid of excess moisture on your leaves, berries, or any fruit/veg after washing...buy yourself a salad spinner!

Farmer milks a cow

A farmer was milking his cow. He was just starting to get a good rhythm going when a bug flew into the barn and started circling his head. Suddenly, the bug flew into the cow's ear. The farmer didn't think much about it, until the bug squirted out into his bucket. It went in one ear and out the udder.

Happy (Belated) St. Patty's Day

This is the highlight of my St. Patrick's Day: Corned Beef & Cabbage with potatoes. Since it takes 4 hours to boil, I celebrated the holiday on Saturday, while I spent that 4 hours washing, vacuuming, Windexing, and Armor-alling Dad's van. Yes, it was a perfect day to spend cooking and cleaning. The weather was absolutely beautiful!

Wedding Dress Preservation

When I had my wedding dress cleaned and repaired, I did not have it preserved. Why? Who knows. But after taking up 1/2 a closet in the spare bedroom for the past 3 years, I finally decided to have it preserved. I pulled it out tonight. So many memories in one dress. Are you asking yourself, "did she try it on in vain to see if it still fit?" YOU BET I DID! HAHA
When I put it on at the church, I had 2 other women helping. This time I had to find all the hooks, snaps, and zipper myself. But after some wriggling, twisting, fighting, and holding of the breath (can you picture this drama? especially with sweat pants on underneath), it was on. ZZZIP: all the way to the top. Conclusion: IT STILL FIT. Not as pretty w/o the hair & makeup, but after 3 years, I was pretty damn proud. I'm satisfied. Now to have it boxed up for 20 years for the next person to take this mound of tulle, satin, and pink flowers and get into it. Hope this story put a smile on your face at my Monday night antics. (This is what I do when my Dearly Beloved is changing oil in the garage.)

March- in Like a Lamb

March 10th and 55 degrees outside! Can you believe it? It actually rained last night. Nice to clean up the roads a little and get the salt off of them. Let's pray that it keeps up. Lexie likes it a lot better and our walks are a lot more pleasant than -20! Keep it comin', Lord!

Happy Birthday Blog

I have had my blog now for 1 year. In that time, we've laughed, we've complained, we've shared. :) Thank you to both of you who read my blog (LOL). 182 blogs.
As long as I'm here I may as well do a book review: Cesar Millan's book about dog psychology. If you own a dog, BUY THIS BOOK! I didn't say if you have a problem dog. No...if you have a dog buy this book! He talks about what your dog needs from you. #1 exercise, #2 discipline, #3 then affection. On his show The Dog Whisperer, he is able to even get the "Red Zone" dogs to be calm. Your dog should never walk ahead of you on a leash - that means he's the pack leader. They should never win at tug-o-war. They should pee/poop when you let them. It all comes down to you being Calm-Assertive and the dog being Calm-Submissive. Check out this website for video examples. I highly recommend this book to any dog-owner! Happy reading!
http://podcast.nationalgeographic.com/dog-whisperer/

Wal-Mart Begins Charging for Plastic Grocery Bags in California

Is this a good idea? That is, charge for the temporary storage containers that house goods customers just bought? Wal-Mart apparently wants to force customers to become eco-friendly, although any customer -- after paying 15 cents for a reusable, washable bag -- can throw them away. Want a larger shopping bag? 50 cents, please.

I was told by the cashier @ our local Wal-Mart that they will be starting this soon as well. For the most part I bring my own bag, but when you forget it at home, you're stuck. What will they come up with next, taxing us carbon dioxide that we exhale? Huh.

Date Night

Went out to Brickyard for dinner. Arg. Skunked...again. It being Lent and Friday, I couldn't eat meat (or fish, obviously), so I ask for the veggie burger. Now veggie burgers are nothing compared to a juicy, red meat burger, but with enough veg and condiments, it's good. What do I get? I get sauteed broc/caulif/mushrooms/sweet bell peppers SMOTHERED in cheese and plopped onto a bun. Now...I was thinking soy of tofu boca burger. I tried to eat 1/2 of it and asked the waitress to take it away & bring me the menu so that I could re-read what I ordered. "On the lighter side: Garden burger on kaiser bun, served w/ steamed veggies, cottage cheese or side salad." She said that someone else complained yesterday that it was wrong. Well...hello then! Run to the nearest grocery store and buy the right ones out of any freezer. Why would it be labeled "on the lighter side" and completely smothered with cheese...and served with another side of veg? On top of it, the waitress tried to take DB's plate before he was done, we had different servers bringing us each course, and had to call the girl back over for refills and the bill. I'm calling it a night and cuddling up with the Dog Whisperer to try to maintain my crazy dog. Good night.

Daily Affirmations

Do you ever come upon a quote or a prayer that just makes you take a deep breath and say, "Thank you Lord. I needed that."? Beautiful quotes that I forgot to jot down previously:
02/15/2010 Lord Jesus, teach me to see my problems as possibilities. Make my life a grand adventure. With your leadership each tomorrow holds many wonderful opportunities. Thank you God. Amen
03/03/2010 My heart is joyful because I can sing a new song today. You came to me in my hour of need. You mended my broken life. Thank you Lord Jesus. Hallelujah.

Monday, 02/22/2010 SPI, TX

Every morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. I know I'm silly, but I had to take a picture of my Texas-shaped waffle. We got our stuff together and M&E picked us up to give us a ride to the airport. We got there 1/2 hr before boarding and found out that we had different seats 4 rows away from each other. (Rest of the story below.)
We bid farewell to Mom & Earl and went through security. Thankfully Mom packed us left-over turkey samiches :) and we gobbled them up before we even boarded.

The rest of the story: We were supposed to sit 4 rows apart from one another in the plane. We were the last to board, so we told the two gentlemen that sat on either side of me that we are married and would like to sit together, asking if they would switch with David (a window seat). The single guy with on my right never had a chance to speak up. The older, married man who was across the aisle from his wife stated, "well, this is my wife here too, but I'll switch." I guess that's that years of marriage does to you. You just really don't care if you sit next to your spouse anymore anyways.

All in all, it was a beautiful (much needed) vacation. Sunny, 70's, and we even took a little sunshine home with us. It was sooo good to see my Mom again and spend that time together. Thanks for everything guys! Here's our last pic: 2 dolphins swimming against the setting sun.

Sunday 02/21/2010 SPI, TX

Woke early to see the sun rise. Just barely d/t the heavy, heavy fog that the island gets. Walked to the condo and bid the family good morning as we took their truck to "Our Lady of the Sea Catholic church". It was a very large, beautiful church on the mainland in Port Isabel, TX. Here's a pic of the front alter.
We went back to the island and hooked up with M&E. We then went for lunch at the Padre Island Brewery Co. There DB&I each got the sampler platter of the different homemade brews. I thought it would be little shots of each beer. WRONG. Christi was a little...giddy... by the time the food arrived. Hey, it was 5:00...somewhere. The speckled trout stout was my favorite.
After lunch we went to see Jesus (Cristo de los Pescadores Memorial). Who knew he was just hanging out on a jetty in SPI?
On our way back to the truck, a barge was bringing a pipe from the bay onto the beach. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was pretty darn amazing.
From there we went to the t-shirt store and got our free t-shirts and I bought a couple of glass-blown rings. We then drove down to the beach and stopped to pick up some sea shells and watch as trucks & jeeps were doing some sanding (insert the term "mudding" and it makes more sense, but in the sand). How many people does it take to get a 4x4 truck unstuck from the sand? We didn't stop long enough to find out. :) Getting thirsty, we stopped at Wanna Wanna. We then went back to the hotel to freshen up and headed to have Mom's famous spaghetti with the fam as we watched the sum set from their condo.
Later we went to Big Boy's Wings. Earl played with a band there. Mom & I line danced (as the US mens' hockey team beat Canada in the Olympics-whoo-hoo.)

Saturday, 02/20/2010 SPI, TX

The next day was an exploring day. We put on our walking shoes and hit the beach (gulf-side). Here is a pic of the jellyfish that wash up on shore. We collected a few shells as we walked North on the beach for quite a distance. There we saw many condos and even the aftermath of the last hurricane.

We cut across the island and headed West. Thanks to Mom's map in her abundant care package for us, we visited the Sea Turtle Rescue. Here is a video of one of their largest sea turtles. There are signs all around not to pet the turtles. Some of these turtles (i.e. the loggerhead) develop 1000lbs of crushing power in their beaks. Some of these animals have handicaps and will permanently live here. Others will be released. Lots and lots of turtles to look at!
Next we headed North to the Laguna Madre. It is a huge walking deck where the birds, fish, crabs, painted turtles and even a crocodile call home. The colors, sizes, bodies, and even the actions of these birds were so amazing to see. DB&I consider ourselves unofficial bird watchers. It was just so interesting to see a different variety of birds compared to ours in MN. There were information boards along the way so you knew what wildlife you were looking at. We saw herons, spoonbills, moorhens, ducks, egrets, storks, pelicans, sandpipers, etc.


We then walked down to the Texas Moon restaurant. Two big thumbs up. The best cheeseburger I have ever had. Dave had the mahi-mahi. Walked back to the hotel. Called Mom. Walked down to their condo and we drove to the pirate ship.
Magical-Mystical Mike the Pirate entertained us as we waited for the ship. He was actually pretty good at the magical tricks he performed. Or maybe it was the $2 beer that made him interesting. Any which way, it was a good way to pass the time until the ship was ready for us.


We then boarded the Black Dragon. It is able to hold 80 passengers and we took a 2 hr cruise around the bay. Here there were pirates putting on an act for the kiddies while we hung out at the back near the refreshments. Face painting followed (no thank you). And we watched as a family of 4 dolphins chased the ship.

There was a shoot out with the Pier19 restaurant & bar. They sent up their white flag, so I assume we had the bigger cannons.
The houses on the bay are absolutely amazing. Who needs beach-front property? And seeing those huge shrimping boats was pretty unbelievable. I never saw a Bubba-Gump one though.
After all that I took the pledge and became a real pirate.

That night we went to Steamers to have dinner and listen to Earl play his bass and sing with a band. Lots of sun and warm temps and a fun-filled day!