food truckin

While out and about the other day, we passed by a fun little food truck. If you're local, it's on 11th St, near downtown called, Lola's Gypsy Caravan.

It's pretty easy to spot because it's a shiny Airstream trailer parked along Route 66.



I had a hard time deciding what to order because so many things looked good.

I almost ordered the tacos because I love food truck tacos and wanted to try their's but I decided on the Chic' Adobo sandwich because it had goat cheese! Next trip I'm getting the tacos and a cookie. I hear the cookies are some of the best in town.



The sandwich did not disappoint. It wasn't too spicy and it had a generous helping of goat cheese - so good. We sat out front under the shaded picnic tables, ate and did a little people watching.

Perfect day for from a food truck.

I'm curious. Do you eat at food trucks?

If so, what one's are your favorites, if you're local. I love me some Mr. Tacos and am always on the lookout for other good ones.

I hear the one at the Cherry St. Farmers Market is really good. I may have to try that one next.

Five Months

What a month we have had little sister! You have taken on a lot of personality and have also earned a few more nicknames including: Aves (you get called this more often than anything else), Avers, boogie and boogs. Not sure where they all came from but it is what it is.

 

You are growing so fast. You roll around everywhere so the days of laying you on the couch or bed are long gone. You don't really crawl but somehow you move all over the place. I don't think it will be long because you have really been trying, you look more like an inch worm. You'll get it, no rush!

You also recently decided that you don't need as much sleep as you were getting. You have been waking up between 4-5 a.m. almost every night lately. You don't cry. You just grunt and coo and babble.



It's totally cute, don't get me wrong, but I'd prefer all that cuteness after a full nights rest.



We also started feeding you rice cereal. In part because we thought it might help you sleep longer, like at least until 6, but that hasn't helped yet. You really like to eat and you attack the spoon when you see it. And as for teeth, you seem to be working on getting some because you chew and drool on everything you can get your little hands on.

 

Your little personality hasn't changed much. You are still very laid back. You rarely cry or fuss at all. Everyone seems to comment on your contentedness. You smile a lot and just seem so very happy. Oh and your laugh is beyond adorable. You are very ticklish and really let out the laughs so, sorry, but we tickle you a lot. You seem to enjoy it though.



You're also very fond of your daddy now. You love feeling his beard and short hair. Your little face lights up when you hear his voice and I'm pretty sure you'd let him hold you all day and never fuss.

But, your sister is still your favorite and still gets the most smiles and laughs from you. You guys play together now. Well, she forces tea cups and saucers on you and you put them in your mouth - that counts as playing in my book.



I guess that wraps up this month. We thank God everyday for you and your health and we love you so very much!!!

xoxo




p.s. Ashley, if you're reading this, I totally took advantage of the awesome lighting at your house for her 5 month pictures. Hope you don't mind!

While my sister's away

the girls will play!

So you know my sister's in China, right? Oh yes, she is there with her husband and their 2 oldest boys and they're coming home with my niece!

Meanwhile, her youngest two are back here. This past weekend my sister trusted me to watch her girl all night! It was P's first slumber party at her house.

We met up with the kiddos and nana at the Oklahoma Championship Steak Cook-off (I wrote about it yesterday.)

Then back to our house for a fun filled evening!!!

The MISSION: Wear the girls out. Keep them busy. Keep them distracted. FUN. FUN. And more FUN.

Three girls in my kitchen - soon it will be four!!!

The girls headed to P's room and tried on all the headbands. Since P wouldn't cooperate with Firecracker, she let little sister be her model.

Watch out Little One! Your sister is ready for you!

A little Tangled before dinner.

This just makes me laugh. A whole lotta girl stuff going on and daddy.

Wearing them out before baths.

Down and out by 7:30?! It was a first-slumber-party miracle!

So, I'd say our first slumber party was a success! We had an absolute blast and I'm so thankful for a new Little One coming home to add to the fun.

OK Steak Cook-off

This past weekend we headed downtown for a little taste treat called the Oklahoma Championship Steak Cook-off. You read that right.



Downtown was filled with grills, smokers, fire and a whole lot of awesome smells for a day.



Starting at noon, different vendors offered free appetizers. You were supposed to vote for your favorite by tipping and all that tip money went to feed the homeless. We walked around, sampled treats and then a couple cousins and nana met up with us.








It was delicious.

Now, the main point of the cook-off was actually a judged steak dinner. At $20 a plate, you got a massive ribeye and sides but we were watching Firecracker for the evening, more on that tomorrow, so we already had plans. I've heard it's quite the feast. Maybe next year.

The faces of pure Joy

My sister has her daughter.

i stole this picture from her post today

You can meet her here.

Praise Jesus. Isn't she lovely?!

Another InstaFriday

This is where I dump some of my phone pictures. If you follow me on instagram (@recipeforcrazy) you've seen most of these over the week. But, for those that don't, these are all new for you!



sweet baby girl in a swimsuit

cousins dancing (not sure where my daughter gets her moves but the girl is groovin)

sketches for a print I'm working on for my friend Anna - it's really for her boy


breakfast donut date since we were out of milk

walking off our donuts and finding fun buildings

the kid loves her some "steps" - seriously entertained her for over 15 minutes and now I need some stairs in our house

fun new cards in a cute little box

his & hers Sunday coffee

#mugswap goodies arrived from the super Hannah! More on the mug swap next week but head over to Hannah's shop and get some cute earrings.



little sister snackin on her toes - I don't blame her, they are quite snackable

pretty morning and big slides

lunch from a food truck - at Lola's Gypsy Caravan

afternoon walk being followed by our cat

out shopping with nana and Sweet P posing

entertained by pizza dough while we wait on lunch (by the way, Andolini's, best idea ever!)

cuddle time at the pizza place - don't worry, no children were harmed

time to make more restaurant-style white queso and use my new anthro measuring spoons (thanks mom!)

sippin on gin and juice - not really, it's an Arnold Palmer (or Paul Newman if you're my mom)

and that wraps up this past week!



Have a fantastic weekend.

Ahhhh!

My sister is on her way to China right now.

My sister is on her way to China to get her daughter, my niece.

Right now.

It's such an exciting time and my head is running wild with all kinds of thoughts.

My sister will get to hold her youngest daughter in days! In her arms. Kiss her face, her toes, her hands. Cuddle her. Rock her. Feed her. Comfort her.

I am overflowing with excitement and can't concentrate on much right now. Not to mention I'm a bit of an emotional wreck or mess, as my husband calls me.

So, if you think about them over the next few days, please say a prayer for her family.

Grab your coffee and head over to her blog to hear a little more about their journey.

Thanks!

Win a Print from my Shop!

I'm so excited to share a raffle with you guys today. Not because you have a chance to win one of my prints (and you do) but because of what the raffle is for! Find out more about Project Hope right here.

Head over to Bits of Splendor today and check out all the amazing prizes you can win!!!

Thanks for supporting such a great cause!

Insta-Friday

My head is all over the place these days so I guess it only makes sense for this post to be all over the place too.



Thanks to the cooler weather, we've been taking a lot more walks.

I started another project I may or may not finish.

Ate some good Thai.

Fed some aggressive ducks on the river.

Broke a favorite antro bowl and spilled coffee.

Danced in the rain.

Sweet P had some killer bed head.

Started organizing my office closet.

Played peek-a-boo as some storms rolled in.

Shopped for mugs at antro.

Continued shopping for mugs at antro for the mug swap.

Captured my Sweet P on a bench after looking at flowers.

Painted a card for my mug swap buddy.

Found out my Sweet P has caught on to the wonders of Target when she told me to "go Target get one" when I didn't have a princess sucker while we were swinging at the park.

And I oogled at my sweet little one in a shirt her aunt got Sweet P. So cute.

Hope you all have a great week!!

Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is up there on my list of favorite summer dishes. Usually we have fresh parsley, tomatoes and onions from the garden but sadly, the extreme summer heat has taken a toll on our garden so I bought everything at the store. *gasp*

Years ago I found this Martha Stewart recipe and have since adapted it to suit our tastes. We like a lot of parsley and a lot of lemon so if those aren't your thing, go by the recipe. This recipe calls for burlgur wheat and although most grocery stores don't carry it, if you can find it, it makes all the difference. Thankfully the store near my house started carrying it in bulk so I'm always stocked now!

Anyway, on to the recipe!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup bulgur wheat
• 4 plum tomatoes, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 1 bunch finely chopped parsley
• 6 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper

First you need to soak the bulgur. Just put it in a bowl with 2 cups water and let it sit while you chop everything. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get tender.

Drain the remaining water off the bulgur and put in a bowl. Stir in the olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Then stir in the tomatoes and onions, followed by the parsley.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least two hours but it's always better the following day.



Eat and enjoy!

Sno Cones are the new Donut

What?!


 
Okay, not really but they are pretty good. Especially when you can make them in the comfort of your house and enjoy them in your front yard on a warm summer day.





Ahhhh.

Little sister looks like she may be ready for her own.



Thanks for the gift, Ashley!

Love and the Number Two

I'm writing over at Beautifully Rooted today and have a free printable for you.

Check it out here.

The post is especially funny today to me because yesterday my girls made it a little difficult to love them with a happy heart.

They both got immunizations the day before and neither slept well. That morning we were all doing okay, okay for someone running on about 2 hours of sleep.

Then the poop hit the fan.

Actually it hit the floor, the shoe and my mom. As we were shopping Sweet P went "poooooop" and took it upon herself to take her bloomers and diaper off.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORE.

When she tried stepping out of her dirty diaper she must have put her foot on the side to push it down because the bottom of her jelly was packed with poo.

SO GROSS.

I'm sure you're wondering where the mother to this child was. Well, little sister had just been fed and I was burping her when she spit up EVERYWHERE. As I was trying to get her cleaned up and dried off I turned to see her sister making quite the scene.

I tried to be as nice and calm as I could and took Sweet Gross P to the bathroom to get her cleaned up. I explained to her why she needs to have her momma take her diaper off as I washed the poo from her leg, foot and shoe.

It was a tough day but just moments later the girl was making silly faces and had me laughing again.



I'm sure that's what I look like to Jesus all the time - trying to do things on my own but end up failing, looking silly and covered in poo. I'm so glad He's there to forgive me and cleanse me daily.




Oh, and did you see?!

Slightly off topic but my niece is coming home soon!!

YAY!!!

Sweet P's Purple, Princess, Hot Dog Party

Sweet P's birthday was last week and the actual day of her party was celebrated with a donut breakfast, a lunch date with just her and her daddy and a mini-party with just our family.



Birthday donut breakfast parties are kind of a tradition around here. We met her great-grapnparents and family super early, ate donuts, lit a candle which created a slight bit of panic for sweet P, sang and went on our way.

While the girls napped, I finished the cake. It was two shades of purple on the inside with buttercream icing and pink and purple sugar crystals on the outside. I tried covering up my imperfect layering with a textured outside - I think it worked.



We attempted to light some candles for round two of the birthday song and this time little P broke into major tears and sobbing. I'm not sure where it came from but I think it had something to do with her not liking the sparklers we did on the 4th of July.



Sad.



She opened her very own princess doll and other little goodies and that ended day one of her birthday celebration.






The following week we had a small family party at my parent's house. No major theme, just a lot of pink and purple.

I hung some balloons from the ceiling, made little markers for dinner and that's pretty much all the decorating that went into this little party.



There was a state-wide burn ban so instead of burgers, we did a little gourmet hot dog buffet. We love hot dogs around here, if you didn't know, so I set out all the ingredients and little menus for some of our favorites:

Tulsa Dog



Seattle and New York Dogs



Basic Chili Dog



and the Chicago Dog



I'm pretty sure the dogs were a hit because I've never seen so many dogs eaten in my life!

And wouldn't you know, I only got one picture of a hot dog creation?! FAIL.

This was my brother-in-law's. I think he called it the supreme dog - it had every single topping available on it. Massive dog.



A few more presents were opened, including a big hit, Hello Kitty band-aids that had to be applied in the middle of present opening by sister-cousin.



And more cake was eaten. This cake was made by my mom.



A princess castle cake. How amazing is that?!

There was also homemade peach ice cream, made by my dad, served in homemade praline cups. And no, I did not get a picture of those either. FAIL AGAIN. Take my word for it, it was amazing.

And finally, we headed outside for the last present from her grandpa. A Barbie Jeep.

Sister-cousin was so excited to show it to her, or, maybe she was excited to ride with her. Either way, the joy on these two girl's faces was priceless.

Notice Firecracker has the pedal floored.

Like I said yesterday, Thelma and Louise. Here comes trouble.

And if those girls ever get in a bind in the future, like Firecracker's mom getting stuck in a cemetery in the middle of the night, ahem, thankfully they have some boys around to rescue them.



Whew.

What. a. blessing.

Seriously. I'm so thankful for family living close so we can celebrate these special times together. You guys made my girl feel so celebrated.

Thank you all and we love you.