2007 November « TheThiers

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

November 25, 2007 at 2:16 am (Chance, Chandler, Charlie, General)

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Lots of family, lots of food, lots of blessings!

At about 2 AM on Thanksgiving day, my mom and my younger brother arrived at our home. We visited for awhile, then went to bed, only to have Charlie wake up at 8 AM (instead of the usual 9). We then headed out to my aunt’s house for a big family gathering. We had so much fun, eating, visiting, and playing bingo. Even the kids got to play! Chuck played so well, he quit so it’d be fair for everyone else. Hehe. He bingo-ed 4 times! Anyhow, as we headed back to San Antonio, the dopamine kicked in and Mom, Adam, Charlie & Chance quickly fell asleep and slept the entire hour + drive home. I wish I’d gotten a picture of that.

[Mom helps Chance play bingo. He really enjoyed it, much more than I expected him to.]

[Chuck and Adam concentrate hard on their bingo cards.]

[Our attempt at a family photo...There's always at least one kid that doesn't want to cooperate!]

Black Friday was also an interesting day. For some time now we’ve been wanting to get a laptop, so we could run Windows (we only have Linux and Macs), in order to run some photo software, etc. So when Chuck saw that Best Buy had two kinds for $400, he decided to get up at 2 AM and stand in line in the freezing cold, hoping to get a voucher for one of them. By 4 AM he realized that he was too far back, they were already sold out. Obviously, this was quite disappointing, but I wanted to record it because then something amazing happened. He went over to Wal-Mart…and not just any Wal-Mart, but the Boerne Wal-Mart in hopes that it wouldn’t be as busy as all of the San Antonio ones. The nice thing was, it was already open, so he was able to wait inside in the warmth. And he had seen that they also had a laptop on sale, but no specs were given, as it was a “secret” sale (Wal-Mart didn’t want people to know in advance). So he waited until 5 AM sale time, where he was the first in line for a laptop that cost $388. The amazing thing is, it’s actually a better value than the other two that were being sold at Best Buy. It was a neat twist, I think…kinda like the underdog still claimed the victory. So that was our Black Friday adventure.

We spent the rest of Friday making a gingerbread house, cooking our own Thanksgiving dinner, and then exchanging Christmas gifts. Definitely the epitome of family time. Today has been equally as fun. First, Mom got up with the boys, allowing Chuck and me to sleep in. Then they made us breakfast, and served it to us in bed, that was a neat experience! Of course, Chance wanted to sit with us and eat all of our food. He even took off with my milk and drank it all. Ha! Later Chuck and I went on a date to lunch and shop a little more, and then this evening, we all went to church. Charlie was excited about the kids’ time that they had tonight, and my mom was happy to hear Max Lucado preach for the first time (she’s a big fan). Afterwards, we drove to Boerne to check out the “Dickens on the Main” Christmas festival in the downtown area…but the weather made us decide to come home. It’s misting and about 40 degrees…not good weather to get the boys out in. But they did enjoy all of the Christmas lights, so it was worth the trip.

[The Thier Paparazzi in Action!]

[Adam helps Chance open his gifts.]

[Charlie puts together a gift from Granny and Bubba.]

[Adam "Bubba" shows off one of his gifts.]

[My first experiment in Photoshop Elements...and a pic of Charlie thanking Granny.]

[Chance, enjoying the playground at church.]

So that was our eventful and blessed holiday. What’d you do for yours?

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Wintertime is Soup Time…

November 21, 2007 at 2:46 pm (General, Recipes)

If you’ve known me for very long, you probably know I’m not much of a cook. I’m attempting to change that, but overall it just doesn’t thrill me. I’d rather be cleaning and organizing the kitchen than actually getting my hands dirty. Chuck deserves a lot of pity for this, since that man LOVES good home-cooked food. Thankfully, he also enjoys cooking, and tells me that if I liked it as much as he does, we might be fighting over who gets to cook. But during the week, the cooking duties are mine. And since everyone is posting Thanksgiving recipes, I thought I’d do something out of the norm: soups! The weather is supposed to go from sunny and 80 degrees to VERY cold tomorrow (which means like, in the 40s for us Central Texans), so why not make some soup?! I know, it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, but maybe once you get thru all your leftovers…

I’ve definitely been on a bit of a soup kick lately. And because I’m not much of a cook, ya know it’s gonna be simple…

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Tortilla Soup

First of all, ya need some chicken, either shred up some from a rotisserie chicken, or my personal favorite: buy the premarinated HEB brand chicken fajitas and grill’em up! I usually make fajitas with the soup, and use it for quesadillas.

Here are the rest of your supplies:
2 cans of black beans, rinsed
4 cans of chicken broth
1 pkg of frozen corn (I prefer the white corn, but you could use sweet)
2 cans of rotel (you can go as spicy or mild as you want!)
1 small can of tomato paste

1 bunch of cilantro, destemmed and chopped up, for garnish
shredded cheese (cheddar, colby jack, whatever) for garnish

I told you this was easy… Just throw everything into a pot and let it simmer for awhile. Then add the cilantro and cheese, and even avocado if you wanted. You can half this portion for one meal, although I like to make a large portion and either share with a friend, or just to have leftovers. The boys love it for lunches, with tortilla chips to dip into it.

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Tomato Basil Soup

I found this recipe thru a friend at church who was once a caterer. I didn’t even know I liked tomato soup until I had this! How can it not be good, with heavy cream in it? I didn’t say it was healthy, hehe! It’s great, and the boys love to have grilled cheese sandwiches to dip in it. The boys love to dip anything, can you tell?

Here’s what you need:
1 can of 12 oz tomato juice (comes in a “coke” can on the fruit juices aisle, near the V8)
2 can of 14 oz crushed tomatoes
1 can of 8 oz tomato sauce
4+ garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp butter
fresh basil (you can use dry basil if you need to, just add it in earlier)
salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pan, combine tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and garlie. Simmer for 30 minutes, until it reduces down by about 1/4. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick. Add in the heavy cream, butter and chopped basil. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and croutons.

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Cuban Black Bean Soup

This one is a crock pot recipe that Chuck loves. I can’t believe I found it in a magazine! First you’ll need 2 ham hocks…I think you can by them in the meat section, although I usually buy two hams, cook’em, slice them up for lunch meat, and save the hocks (bones) with some meat still on, for this recipe.

Here’s what you need:
1 1/3 cups chopped onions
1 Tbsp minced garlic (you could also add in 1 Tbsp chopped ginger, yum!)
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (don’t worry, it won’t be spicy)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and thyme
1/4 tsp pepper

2 ham hocks (1.5 pounds total)
4 cans of black beans, rinsed
2 cans of chicken broth
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

You can garnish with a chopped hard-cooked eggs. And corn bread is always a good complement to this soup.

Mix the onions, garlic, jalapeño, and seasonings in the crock pot. Top with ham hocks and beans. Add broth.
Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours (This will make your house smell delicious, and bring your family to the table hungry!)
Take out the ham hocks, take the meat off the bones and add back into the soup (discard the rest, or make your dog happy with the bones). Stir in lemon juice and garnish with egg (optional).

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All of these soups work well as leftovers, and can even be frozen for a later date. Translation: when you’re only 6 months pregnant but already nesting, this is a great way to get ready for that baby coming.

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Zoo Part 2

November 20, 2007 at 11:52 pm (Charlie, General)

Chuck got his pics up, so I had to share a few more.

Here’s Elijah, kissing/attacking his momma. I love this age!

This is Elijah when he turns on the charm. He is so photogenic!

Here’s Charlie, and a funny story. He climbed up there to growl at the jaguar, trying to scare him. Of course, the jaguar was not impressed. But then Charlie got scared because he couldn’t figure out how to get down. LOL

And here’s Charlie, putting his hand thru the grate because there was a large school of fish near the surface. What you don’t see is that this was the same pond that contained alligators. Needless to say, he didn’t get to play in the water for long!

Here’s Kaleb, making a funny face for his Uncle Chuck. I just wish I would’ve gotten a pic of him with his momma… Melanie’s the only person we didn’t catch on camera.

And lastly, a scrapblog to remind the boys of the animals we see at the zoo.

So things have been busy and good, but nothing in particular to share at the moment. Just enjoying the family time, and visits with friends this holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Other Side of Chuck

November 17, 2007 at 11:51 pm (General)

One day while in the office, we joked that I should register evilchuck.com. To my surprise it was available, and so I registered it, and started blogging on it. I have decided that I will start using that to post my more geeky articles so that I don’t bore Angies plethora of readers. So for the couple that actually read my posts, feel free to check out evilchuck.com. And if you are curious as to why evilchuck.com, then check out this post. See you guys on the other side!

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A perfect day at the Zoo

November 17, 2007 at 1:43 pm (Chance, Chandler, Charlie, General)

Yesterday, the weather was absolutely perfect, and some of our family came from Austin to go to the zoo. It was one of those days that you think, “It’s just good to be alive.”

And, yes, I took pictures. Chuck took even more, which I’ll share once he gets them processed.

First there was the jaguar. I have to admit, I’m a bit enamored with these creatures…and all wild cats for that matter. When I was a kid I dreamed of having one as a pet someday. Then I grew up and realized, that was more of a fantasy than it was feasible. But indulge me for a minute, and admire their majesty…

I love this one because of the reflection of Chance in the glass. (You may have to look REALLY close.)

Don’t you just love the condescending pose, and the beautiful black and white markings on his chest?

Ok, I’ll give the jaguar a rest. I am surprised he didn’t start charging us for all the photos!

Then there were lions, and tigers, but we skipped the bears…oh my!

But the best part was the family:

Jason & Kaleb

Meesh & Veronica

They wanted to see who all could fit in this tent, so Chance decided to join them. But as soon as I whipped out the camera, he made a quick getaway…I love his action pose.