Family Time in Austin

Ross and I left Claire in Houston with Gigi and Pop Pop while we made a quick overnight trip to Austin for a Huebel Family wedding (Congrats to Amy and Jay!).

Here's a picture of the Pruitt/Huebel gang during a post-wedding brunch.

Apparently, the color "coral" is trendy right now :)

Emily, me, Danielle, & Sandi

Great to see family AND it didn't rain...

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Our New House!

Now that we have moved and been settled in our house for a month, I thought I'd post a couple pictures of the new house that were previously posted on MLS website when it was staged and for sale. That way you'll have a "BEFORE Huebel take-over" to contrast against the "AFTER Huebel take-over" when I post some pictures of things we've done around the house. Babies (and baby stuff) do interesting things to decor... Well so do African animals, but that's a story for another day.

Front

Entry/Living Room

Family Room/Kitchen

Kitchen

Patio

My commute downtown isn't too bad on most days-- something I'm extremely grateful for!

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Houston Flooding

Wow. The last couple days has brought more rain than this city knows what to do with. It was a scary night because the storm lasted for more than 6 hours and we could see the water creeping up our driveway. Claire pretty much slept through the lightning and thunder but Roma was petrified, at one point hiding in the pantry. We are fortunate that we didn't have any damage etc. I heard a statistic on the radio that not a single Texas County is in a draught anymore... and I believe it.

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House for sale

My parents just listed their Houston Heights home on the MLS today. It's bittersweet for me because they will be moving to Pearland which is 30-40 minutes farther away from my house. On the plus side they will be moving to a house that is better equipped to handle the energetic dog and baby combination that I tend to travel with these days. I'll post some pictures of their new house when I get the green light. Until then, it's time to sell a house... know anyone looking? :)

Goodbye house with no backyard!

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Crockpot White Bean Chili

Now that I'm a) working full time again and b) making the daily commute downtown I am constantly looking for new crockpot recipes. A working mom must have invented the crockpot... Actually, let's do a little research on this matter. Here's what Wikipedia had to say:

History[edit]

The Naxon Utilities Corporation of Chicago, under the leadership of Irving Naxon, developed the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker. Naxon was inspired by a story his Jewish grandmother told about how back in her native Lithuanian shtetl, her mother made a stew called cholent, which took several hours to cook in an oven.^[2]The Rival Company bought Naxon in 1970 and reintroduced it under the Crock-Pot name in 1971. Slow cookers achieved popularity in the US during the 1970s when many women began to work outside the home. They could start dinner cooking in the morning before going to work and finish preparing the meal in the evening when they came home. In 1974, Rival introduced removable stoneware inserts making the appliance easier to clean. The brand now belongs to Sunbeam Products, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation. 

So it wasn't a mommy afterall. Now we know.

So back to the crockpot, I made this White Bean Chili over the weekend and we enjoyed it (sorry I forgot to take pictures). I served it up with cilantro, avocado, tortilla chips, and grated cheese. I think the toppings really jazz the dish up.  I will make this recipe again for sure!


White Bean Chili

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1.5 pounds chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
• 2 - 15 ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 - 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup salsa verde
• 2 Tablespoons cumin
• 1½ teaspoons sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ⅛-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1½ Tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder + 3 Tablespoons water
• optional: cilantro and avocado for toppings

METHOD

1. Place the olive oil and chopped onion in the crock pot.
2. Add the drained and rinsed beans, salsa verde, and chicken broth. Place the cover on the crock pot.
3. Cook for 4 hours on high heat, or 6-8 hours on low heat.
4. Just before serving, combine the cornstarch or arrowroot powder and the water in a small container with a lid. Shake well. Drizzle the mixture into the crock pot and stir. Place the cover back on and let it cook for a few minutes so that the chili thickens up.
5. Serve chili topped with chopped avocado and fresh cilantro.
6. *To Freeze: Place all ingredients except broth and cornstarch in a gallon size freezer bag.
7. Thaw completely in the refrigerator, then place in the crockpot, add the chicken broth, and follow the cooking instructions above.

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Astros game

I went to the Astros game with a few of my coworkers- a vendor had a suite and invited us. Not too shabby- I even got to meet Orbit. 

I may have had to ask his name :)

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Pop Pop's Girl

Any idea why Claire's so excited and practically running in this picture?

How about now?

If you guessed, Pop Pop arriving at the front door then you win!

One of Claire's favorite spots.

Kisses.

Why so much excitement you ask? Because things like this always seem to happen when Pop Pop comes over...

Two peas in a pod :)

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Walking- with some falling

We have a little walker on our hands now!!

Now that we're not living out of boxes I hope to get back to blogging more regularly, I'll have to get some new material this weekend :)

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Head, Foot, & Mouth

I'm learning so much about kiddos each and everyday.  Claire developed a rash today and I get a rather frantic call from daycare about "red bumps all over." So we get a doctor appointment, Ross gets Claire at daycare and takes her to the appt, and I meet them at the house to watch claire at home for the remainder of the afternoon. The verdict is that Claire has "Hand Food and Mouth Disease."

Ummm WHAT? This is a thing, but a disease? Wait, pretty much all babies get it? Then why is it called a Disease?  This is a dumb name for a virus. May include fever and sores, but there's nothing the doctor can do? What?

So yes, this happened today. Claire has a few small red freckles but I'll be feeling really great if that's the extent of this thing.  One sickness after another is a downside of daycare!

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Mother's Day, New House

Well today was a first for me... I celebrated  Mother's Day with 3 generations: Claire, myself, Gigi, and Granna. It is days like these when I am so thankful that we all live in Houston once again! I love that we could be with BOTH the matriarch momma's :)

We have an "almost walker" on our hands now. 

On another note, we are all moved into our new house but we are having bukus of Internet trouble which makes blogging problematic so bear with me!

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Graeme McDaniel

The world lost baby Graeme entirely too soon. Please take a minute to read his obituary and better understand what a special little boy he was.

In memory of Graeme McDaniel

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Tragedy

Our good friends lost their son today- he was only a year older than Claire. Everything else seems trivial when I think of their loss. Please say a prayer for them. And then say another. 

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