Turducken

Warning: Graphic bird butchering images...

For Thanksgiving we decided to make our own Turducken. Turkey- duck- cornish game hen. They are $80 at Vons and we managed to make it for about $30.

A few days before Thanksgiving we de-boned the birds. The hen and the duck were fairly easy, but both of us had to work together and break out the heavy artillery for the turkey. After all the bones were removed (except for the turkey legs which we left on) we seasoned the birds with Tony's Cajun seasoning and wrapped them up until Thanksgiving morning. Total weight after de-boning was 22lbs. of pure meat!

Since the turkey was cut in half in order to de-bone him, we sewed one side up before we sstarted putting everything together. We unwrapped the birds and layered them with cornbread stuffing, onions and bell peppers. After everything was layered, we closed up the turkey, tied everything up good and tight and put him in a bag to bake. He cooked away at 350 degrees for 4 hours (until 185 degrees).

The turducken turned out better than we even imagined. Because there are no bones, you just cut straight through the bird. It is cool seeing all the layers of the birds and the stuffing. And splitting up leftovers is a cinch, we just cut him in half.

It was so much fun and we will definitely do it again!

Anyone want to come over for leftovers?!?

Winner!

I just won a free Bebe Belay clip that Petite Saver was giving away! I love that I can use it as a paci clip now and later on use it to make an instant bib for Van (or Kenny). No need for disposable bibs :) I am so excited!



My mom told me about Petite Saver. If you haven't checked out her blog, it is pretty cool. She lists sales and coupons for kid & baby items.

Another great blog for giveaways is Penelope's Pitstop (which I designed!) A few months ago I won a changing pad from her. Penny is so sweet and has great giveaways all the time! Her blog is definitely a must read :)

... I probably shouldn't be telling you all this... it just means more competition for me in the giveaways! Ha ha! You will have to share if you win anything cool!!!

Where in the world is Kenny Shepherd?

Easy enough right?

What river is this in the picture?

I took it from 41,000 feet in an HS-125 Hawker Jet.

Tie Dye Fun

We went down to Campland on the Bay this afternoon to hang out with Jake & Deb. It was Campland's 40th anniversary so the Director of Fun (remember him Mom & Dad?!?) went all out and had music, jewelry making and tie dying. We had fun listening to the Grateful Dead cover band while making our tie dye shirts. It was our first time doing tie dye and they turned out really great, if i do say so myself. Even Van has a cute little tie died onesie! We'll be sure to take a picture once they all dry ;)

09-09-09

So while Kelly was pushing a kiddo out, Danny, Tonita, Izzy and I had our own little 09-09-09 combo Izzy's 6 month party!

We had 9 different dinner items from Emma's and followed that with 9 different ice creams for dessert!

Arg!

Should have been posted on June 19, 2009

I got puked on by a baby for the first time today. Sucky thing is that it was not even my kid. Oh come on now.

We borrowed a baby to try out on car seats and somewhere in there she decided to hurl. I was just a second too slow. She smiled, she grimaced and then whamo! Puke out the pie hole. I managed to turn the vomiting child just in time to make sure that I took a hit as well as Jen and the couch.

Is this the start of long road? (deep breath) I think so.

Hard day at work

Sunset over a Learjet in Aspen, Coloardo.

Prius Power!

Not to brag, but our car rocks! This ain't the best picture in the world, but it shows that we averaged at least 100 mpg for the past 30 minutes! The picture was taken on I-5 south when we were returning from Bakersfield. (Just in case you wanted to know, the car usually averages about 50 mpg)

Sunset

Kenny sent this to me as he was flying home from Oregon last night.

He has such a rough job :)

A rootin' tootin' start to the weekend...

WARNING! WARNING!

The exciting and dangerous stunts in the post were performed
by professionals under highly controlled conditions.

Do NOT attempt this at home. (especially if you have children nearby)

WARNING! WARNING!

It is Friday afternoon and both Jen and I are home early. So how do we kill a couple hours before starting dinner?

A balloon shoot-out! Please notice the safety backstop (a green pillow) and the carnage stuck to the walls! (poor little balloons never had a chance!)

After we got sighted in with the stationary balloons, I had Jen hide in the guest bathroom and fling a balloon into the hallway for a "moving target." We both took turns shooting at the rubber over-sized pigeons.

You might be wondering what she is pointing at? Wwwwweeeeeeellllllllll, if you toss a small balloon into the air and then shoot it with a Daisy Red Rider Single Pump Action BB Rifle you get a popped balloon, two cries of joy, one scared black dog AND a hole in the bedroom door. Yes, the hollow core pre-fab door does not quite stand up to taking a round. (ha - get it? "round" as in a shot and a BB - never mind).

All in all, it was blast!

Turn your volume up!

We Won!

"This email is to confirm that your requested credit has been processed. Your current balance is $165.00, which includes credits totaling $165.00.

Thank you for using Verizon Wireless."


Yeah. It only took about 20 hours fighting them... so I guess that works out to $8.25 per hour. That's okay... we still beat them down! :)

Google Us

I was looking at Google Analytics for our blog to see what keywords people were typing in Google/ Yahoo to get to our site. Some of them made me laugh...


"had to wear a girdle"
Oh! I am sorry you had to wear a girdle. I did too...once!

alcohol cold sweats nightmares
Um. My suggestion... stop with the alcohol if you are getting cold sweats and nightmares. The yummy taste of Mike's Hard Lemonade just isn't worth a night of no sleep and sweat drenched sheets.

blogger header designer
I hear Jen at Blue Yonder Design is simply the best :)

crab reward
Makes me wonder how many other people offer a reward for missing crabs?!? RIP Fiddle.

funny lines from the bucket list
Didn't you see the movie?!? There were NO funny lines.

hokey pokey baby video
Now this is something I'd like to see.

i swear by my tattoo
Didn't your mother teach you not to swear?!?

n800pk
Kenny flew this plane in November 2006. It is for sale if anyone is interested.

pcifa gang
A gang?!? Like the Bloods, Crips, Jets, Newsies? Yeah, those pilots are a tough group of guys.

roll up your sleeve mommy it's time for a shot needle
Why is the doctor calling her "mommy"?!? That is just creepy.

Oh Internet... I love you!

Last week I decided to finally play around with Gmail and Shutterfly to see what the deal was and if they would work for me. I know everyone and their brother are already on the Gmail bandwagon and everyone else is already backing up and printing all their photos on Shutterfly, but just in case you are like me and are a bit slow sometimes getting in on the newest internet craze, I am here to tell you that using these two sites are a must... at least for me :)

Gmail (i.e. Google Mail)

Why Gmail? Well, Why not? I mean, what is there not to like about virtually limitless storage?!?

On Friday I routed all my email accounts through my newly set up Gmail account then added my new Gmail account to my Mac Mail (also works perfectly with Outlook for PC users!). My Mac Mail and my Gmail now sync with each other seamlessly and I have an online backup of all my emails. Speaking from someone who has lost everything when her old PC crashed... having a backup saves a ton of heartache! Also, if I happen to be away from my computer, I can just hop online from any computer and check all my emails from all my accounts in one place... and as a bonus... Gmail is super easy to use and keeps all those SPAM emails far far away. I am loving the "conversation view" where Gmail groups all replies with their original message, creating a single conversation or thread. So wonderful!

Sign up for a Gmail account at http://mail.google.com

Shutterfly

Can I just say how much I am loving Shutterfly?!?

Most photo sites limit your storage of photos and charge you once you have added too many. Not Shutterfly.

You all know that Kenny and I love taking pictures and we have a ton. I was looking for an online backup for my photos when I came across Shutterfly. I thought that Shutterfly was only an online print shop for your photos, but I was so wrong. It is a great place to store your pictures, create slide shows, albums, photo books and more. I can't believe I didn't use this sooner.

The main thing (besides limitless storage of photos) is the fact that Shutterfly has a great plugin for iPhoto, making uploading photos so simple. They also have an amazing program called "Shutterfly Studio" for Windows users for organizing and uploading photos.

Again, if my computer crashes, I now have an online backup of all my photos with Shutterfly.

They also give you a fun little web page so you can share your photos with friends and family. You can choose which uploaded albums you want to share and set permissions so only people you want can see them. You can check out ours at http://kennyandjen.shutterfly.com/. I am still working on adding and editing photos, so forgive me if it is bit rough.

Anyway if all goes well I should have all my photos backed up by the end of the week. I will also be using our public Shutterfly page to post recent pictures and trips for all of you guys, so you might want to bookmark it :)

Sign up for Shutterfly at http://www.shutterfly.com

I love finding things like this online. Are there any programs or web pages that you use that you can't live without? Let me know.. I am ready to get on the bandwagon:)

Free Music

Yep. Free. Christian Music. You can't beat that :)

Get your FREE copy of Phil Wickham’s live CD that you can download by clicking on the photo below and hopping over to his blog.


I am listening to it now and it is great.. and FREE!!!!!!!

Oh I wish...

S.O.S.

I had just left Jen’s office and was on my way to wash our fuel efficient Prius (yes, in these days of four plus dollars a gallon for fuel, we are happy to say that we are averaging just over 50 mpg).

I was south-bound on Cuyamaca, when I noticed (I use that word in the most understated sense) a large Chevy Silverado stalled in the left lane. Now this ain’t your off-the-lot, normal pick-up truck. This was your double cab, long bed, 12” lift kit, 38” tires, gas-guzzling, he-man-woman-haters-club kind of truck. Of course, it was, at this point in time, being pushed, or at least attempting to be pushed, by a five foot, three inch women wearing a black pant suit and stiletto high heels.

I courteously make a u-turn and pull back around to help this poor lady out. I bravely dash across several lanes of speeding traffic and tell her to get in and steer while I push. I briefly entertained the idea of having me steer and her push, but the Catalde moment quickly passed…thank you Tonita.

We finally manage to get “the beast” to the curb, only after three angry honks and one person showing us their tall finger.

I ask the lady if she knew why the truck died and if she needed any help. She proceeds to tell me that, and I swear this is the honest truth, that she and her husband had just bought a new Toyota Camry from the local dealer and she was on her way to meet her husband there. As part of an incentive to get them to buy the new car, the salesman enticed them with two free tanks of gas for their cars. Well, who wouldn’t drive their 3 mpg truck with a 39 gallon tank to the very bottom of its tank in hopes of eeking out every last ounce of free gas? (and yes, I borrowed her owner’s manual to look confirm the tank size).

So, I drove her down the street to the gas station where she purchased a seven dollar gas can and four dollars and thirty-five cents worth of gas. Yes, a single gallon.

I told her that if she ran out of gas again on her way to the dealership, she was on her own.

Flappin' Fish

In moving into the sixth stage of my grieving process, hope, I decided to wander back into the pet store in hopes of finding a replacement for my dear lost friend, Fiddle.

You may remember my tragic story of loss with Fiddle, details of which I am not yet comfortable with, nor able to recount at this time… dramatic pause and moment of silence before moving onto next paragraph please.

I slowly worked my way past the cute hamsters and creepy reptiles, working on my courage to brave into the aquarium section. After fifteen minutes, I finally mustered up the cahones to stop looking at the horny toads and ball pythons and decided to turn the corner into the fish department.

As I rounded the end cap, a rush of emotions filled my soul: loss, sorry, and maybe even… anticipation? I did have a good run with Fiddle, and maybe, just maybe, I could love again.

As the enormous wall of aquariums and their aquatic guests stared down at me, my attention was immediately diverted when the teenage employee lifted a five gallon clear plastic bag from a shopping cart.

The bag held in it several hundred gold fish… for about three seconds!

As the girl lifted the bag from the cart, the bottom seam split open and 300+ tiny gold fish and five gallons of water introduced themselves to the floor.

The girl turned to me, a clear look of panic on her face. I calmly reached into the “employees only” area and withdrew two little green fish nets and offered them to the girl along with my assistance. She gladly accepted both.

We started scooping and plopping. More scooping, more plopping. Fish after net-full of fish. Finally, some backup arrived and we had some help cleaning up the floor of all those flappin’ fish.

Looking back, I am proud to say that I single-handedly rescued over 150 fish that day. Fish that will be eagerly purchased by mom and her 6 year old daughter. Fish that will all die next week in the small bowl left too close to bedroom window in the heat of summer.

Some would call me a hero, but not me. I would call my self, well, angry. Angry because all I really want is some free fish from the pet store. Is that too much to ask from a hero?

REWARD: Missing Crab

MISSING: Crab
Answers to the name "Fiddle"
Escaped from tank
May have been eaten by a little black dog (AKA "Pilot")

Last night after Kenny got back from a weekend trip to Aspen, we shot over to Walmart and picked up a cute new addition to our fish tank. Fiddle settled right in and didn't even seem to mind the fish. This morning when we checked on the tank we noticed we were missing the newest member of our aquatic family.

Kenny searched the house high and low, but Fiddle is officially gone. Hopefully we don't find him in a few days... after wondering why our house smelled like rotten sea food...

Goodbye Fiddle, we hardly knew you :(

Imperial? That is a bit overstated.

Where do I start?

I am in Imperial, California. It is over 100 degrees. It is hot and sticky and smells bad.

Me and my co-pilot are in our uniforms; charcoal dress slacks, starched white shirts, shiny grey epaulets, fancy blue ties.

The Imperial Airport FBO is slightly… well let’s just say not the nicest one I have visited. Anyway, we need to use a crew car to run into “town” to grab some lunch and some catering. They generously offer (and by generously I mean like pulling teeth without novacaine) the mechanic’s old white full-size Chevy pick-up truck; doors won’t open from the inside, more dents than a golf ball (what?), and the coolest seat cover I have ever seen (please note sarcasm).

We cruise into town with our sweet wheels and decide hit Carl’s Jr. for a quick bite. We may have been over dressed for the occasion, but I honestly think that there must have been a prison break down the road and all the former inmates were craving burgers now that they were on the outside. Kinda scary. We manage to grab our burgers and fries without getting knifed and continue on to get some catering.

In this one horse town of Imperial, we figure Von’s is our best bet. We casually exit our vehicular transportation and stroll into directly into Von’s alcohol section. What did you think I met by “catering”?

I grab a six-pack of some nice imported beer and Scott grabs a ten pound bag of ice and we head for the check-out. Of course, we manage to attract some attention. Maybe because two pilots hoofing a six-pack and some ice is something these yocals have never seen, or maybe we are just snappy dressers.

We find the checkout stand and get the customary alcoholic pilot jokes… yeah yeah ha ha.

Now, the cool thing about Von’s is that when you buy something sometimes the receipt machine prints you out some extra coupons. Very hit or miss, kind of like a slot machine. Well today we hit it big… coupons!

The computer in all its wisdom saw two pilots buying beer and ice and felt we needed coupons for “Meet the new line of baby products created by moms, for moms. Mom to Mom brand Kiddie Ups, Supreme Baby Wipes and Rash Cream!” Yep, we needed baby supplies and we needed them at a discount.

We took our beer and ice and left.

Another one bites the dust

Kenny chooses bad fish. I am convinced of this.

His bad fish talked my good fish into some kind of murder suicide pact.

That's right, my sweet innocent fish left us this morning. I went to feed him and he was gasping for air. I tried fish CPR, but to no avail. He was not long for this world.

It has been a sad week.