You're All Invited!

Don't you know if you lived closer that I would invite you to my Mardi Gras party?

I truly love all of my blogging friends. And I would invite each and everyone of you if that was at all possible.

Although...there a select few who have sought me out since I've began blogging in August of 2008. Don't you just love those bloggers who sought you out and stuck with you. Well lets just say through bad posts and good! =)

Of course I had my mom-in-law ♥ cheering me on at http://charliandme.blogspot.com/ and my daughter who started her blog before me at http://aaydensmommy.blogspot.com/.

There are three other ladies, who really have very much touched me, with who they are, and their blogs in the past six months. There is something special about these ladies that make me want to keep going back to their blogs. They might suspect who they are. I don't know. I'm a pretty good judge of character. Yeah, yeah, I know it's just blogging but...you can kind of tell who that person is by their blog. Ok, ok so you want to know who these three ladies are. I'm sure you all know that I am Catholic. These woman may not be and that is OK by me. But these woman have helped me in a "Catholic" way. ALL three but especially one. Ok I've said it!!!!!!! The three woman who I am talking about...enough suspense...!!!...In no particular order...http://poshandtrendy.blogspot.com/, http://spookydragonfly.blogspot.com/ and http://wwwawbfam.blogspot.com/ Thank you ladies.

"Pat" at http://poshandtrendy.blogspot.com/. I love your blog. My favorite post of your blog was...............=) http://poshandtrendy.blogspot.com/2009/01/mother-and-daughter-day.html This was one of the best posts I have ever read so far in blog land. With all do respect,...Girl, now that's what I'm talkin' about! That post of yours moved me. Not only did it make me think about my mother and daughter, but you shared with us what is most important. Just to be yourself.

Okay, OK moving forward...

I have been cooking all darn day in the kitchen. See... us northern girls like southern food. I've made this today for tomorrows party. I'm having my Mardi Gras party tomorrow. I had so many sleepless nights worrying about the food that I'd prepare for my Mardi Gras Party. Pizza vs.'s authentic food. Looky, looky. With a few St. Bridget prayers, I was good to go. It all just fell into place....some how...

Chicken Jambalaya...

Black eyed peas w//// bacon!!!!!!

Okay...with hot corn bread fresh out of the oven. Got to make another batch to make sure I have enough.

See, us Northern people love southern cookin'. What really seem to fall into place was the tin dishes that I had in my cupboard for something I ended up not using until now. Talk about perfect. Just look how that Chicken Jambalaya just fits in that tin perfectly. I can't even remember what I bought these tins for.

Okay, Okay I can't forget to show you the star of the show. The King cake! Well my version of it anyway. Oh don't get me wrong. There is a little 'King' in there...but I forgot where. I made two cakes to make sure that I had enough for all of my guests, right. Well the one that is showing is the one with the 'King' in it....I'm sure. Well the problem is that I even forgot where in the heck the 'King' is in 'the cake!!!!!!'

You see when I was decorating it, I thought I was smart. I thought the mark with the frosting on the plate is where the King is going to be. So I was frosting, and frosting...and frosting away and thinking...'Boy this frosting job is really turning out nicely. Well...when I was done frosting...there was frosting all over the plate! So afterward I was like freaking out!! Oh my gosh, where in the heck is the King?!? The frosting got every where on the plate when I was done!!!

Oh darn! Where in the heck is that King? I know what cake. It's the one with the gold crown in the front. But honestly I don't know where it is. I'm signing off...from Peek-A-Boo Street!

P.S. Mom, no peeking!!

A Touch Of Spring ~

Well as you all know if you have been following my blog over this winter, we have had one hard, cold, brutal winter. It gets cold & snowy here in Michigan but this year was the absolute worst. Yes I'm still going to say that winter is still my favorite season but Mother Nature sure was letting us know exactly what winter was all about! We were hovering in zero temps for weeks that would not let up. We had snow storms after snow storms that were one big snow storm. You lose count after the 5Th one when it's only January. When we got back into the 30's again, us Michiganders felt comfortable to leave our homes again after being stuck in the house for weeks. Our weather has been in the normal 30 degree range lately which is nice. But we did get 4 to 5 inches of snow last weekend. Then even some days it even got into the 40's and we just thought we were having a heatwave! Whew hoo! It even peeked into the 50's a couple of times and that is all it took to melt most of our snow.

But lately =) ........there has been a change here on Peek-A-Boo Street. Maybe there is brighter days to come.

Are those!...Yep!.....We're getting buds on our trees here on Peek-A-Boo Street. Buds mean...*Spring!* Ahhh yes. Oh how sweet that is to see. Especially after such a harsh winter.

Of course I had to grab for my camera and take a couple of pic's for you.

I forgot what it's like to have warm sunshine on my face. The sky was blue here for now. Later in the night the rain came. But at least it wasn't snow! Rain is a sign of spring to come. And yes I have seen two Robins yesterday. But I know not to speak to soon. It has been known to snow here in April. So don't let these pic's fool you. But it's nice to dream of spring to come.........

I Got An Award!

Thank you to my daughter who gave me this award. Please go and check out her blog. http://aaydensmommy.blogspot.com/

This Sisterhood Award represents the people in blogland that support and love each other through their blog.

The only rules to this award is to pass it along to ten of your bloggy friends. Of course show the link in your post whom you received the award from. And then let the nominees know that they won by leaving a comment on their blog. Plus you should add this award to your sidebar of your blog thanking the person of course who awarded it to you. It seems like a lot to do, but it's fairly easy.

Not all of my readers like to participate in the award thing. And also there could be some who just don't know how to do that. If you are one of those people just let me know and I could help you.

So I'm going to break the rules a bit and I'll just let the readers of my blog decide if they want to participate in it. Just leave me a comment and let me know if your going to be picking up this award.

So with that. Drum roll please.........

I nominate...EVERYONE ! ♥

Have a beautiful day.

Getting Ready For Mardi Gras Party

Happy Fat Tuesday! I hope you all had your punchki. Now I know I didn't spell that right.
The actual Mardi Gras is today with the parades in Louisiana. Which I won't be attending because I live in Michigan. But also, I hear it can get a little wild down there so I don't know if I'd go anyway. I'd just rather be safe and celebrate Mardi Gras here in my little home on Peek-A-Boo Street. =)
I'll be getting ready for my Mardi Gras party this week. It's going to be on Saturday even though Mardi Gras will be officially over tomorrow. I had a meeting for the upcoming of my son's First Holy Communion, which I could not get out of, last Saturday. So the party is going to be just a few days late this year. Maybe this will be a new tradition in the family. I don't know. I'll have to wait for that.
I got all the decorations up. I went to the store today and got all of the items that I will be needing for the menu. I will be having Chicken Jambalaya, black eyed peas with corn bread for the main meal. I will also be making my own version of a King cake. I went to the bake store yesterday and got the decorations for that. I'll take a picture of that before my guest slice into it! Who will find the King? I will let you know. For drinks I'll be making my Mardi Gras Madness Punch. I'll take a picture of that as well to show you before the guests get their dibs on that. I'll also be serving red wine, beer and pop of course. Probably Coke and 7Up, your two basic soft drinks.
My hubby will be making his appetizers which I posted about earlier. And I just bought a bag a pretzels to put out on the table. I think some of my guests wanted to bring some stuff to which was nice.
I would like to play a game of some sort for the party but I can't think of any. Any suggestion? Like a party game of some kind. What would there reward be? Beads of course! I also bought some beads that I will be giving to my guests as they come in.
I have the music for Mardi Gras. I loved the song on my blog and I looked on the back of my Mardi Gras CD and it's on there! I can't wait to play it.
So I think that's it. I think I got everything I'm going to need. What do you think? Did I miss anything?
Well I have to go dust and vacuum before I pick up my son from school. Because then I'll have to help him with his homework and get dinner going. Have a nice day.

Winter Break

Well the kids have been home this week for their winter break from school. And it has been a nice and relaxing week. The kids and I got to sleep in every morning so we're feeling nice and rested. I still got some work done but things have been going at a slower rate this week which is nice for a change.
My son who is in second grade has had an enormous amount of homework to do this year. Plus he has chatacism to prepare him for his First Holy Communion. And the school year is not over yet. I won't list all the things that are required of him but trust me, I raised two children through my neighborhoods school district with my second grader being the third, and the expectations for a second grader is just over whelming for me, let alone my son. And I'm a stay at home mom and I am struggling to keep up with all of the work that is required of a second grader. It just makes my sad that second graders are being pushed so much like this. My son is only seven, he wants to play and be a kid. He don't want to come home and do two hours of homework.
Now with his chatacism the pressure is on there because his First Holy Communion is coming up in May. There will be six meeting for six weeks in a row during Lent. Plus...two works shops on Saturdays from 2-5 pm.
So this week off has been really nice for my son. He got to play, play and play and watch movies and do what he wanted to do. But we still managed to get in two booklets of papers to study for his test, on the day he returns to school. Oh did I mention his chapter book report! Yes he's seven and he had to read his first chapter book along with a book report! It's so ridiculous. It will be a miracle if we make it through this school year!
I hope that you all had a nice week!

A Little Valentine For You ♥

Good morning friends. Happy St. Valentine's Day! ♥ I'm hoping that you all have a wonderful day. I hope that you get to spend your day just the way you want to. Whatever it is that makes you happy. It's great to give love, but I hope that each and every one of you feel loved. If not, you should be feelin' that arrow that the little cupid just aimed at you from all the way over here from Peek-A-Boo Street to you! I hope it doesn't hurt to bad! I told that little cupid to watch it with that thing and to be gentle! Oh my gosh...watch out!!!! That ones definitely going to leave a mark!

My wonderful husband got me the most beautiful Valentine's card and a basket of flowers. Don't tell my hubby but now I would like to pass these flowers out to each and everyone of you. So please only take one flower so others will have be able to have one to. They were so beautiful I just wanted to make sure you each get one. =)

I gave my hubby a card and candy this Valentine's. And well what is a girl to do with a unopened box of chocolate just setting up on the table. Yes I could not resist! I opened his box of chocolate and took one. He later came to me and asked who opened his heart shaped box of chocolate. Well I had to tell him it was me. I told him that I took one of the dark chocolates that he doesn't like anyway. He just smiled. So I think I got of the hook with the dark chocolate one. I'll have to remember that for next year.

So ladies, if you gave your significant other chocolate for St. Valentine's Day and it's just sitting there unopened, just open it and take what he don't like and that way he won't mind you opening up his Valentine. It worked for me!

Here's to wishing you a day full of LOVE!! ♥

I'm signing off...from Peek-A-Boo Street!!

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Kathy at http://katshappyathome.blogspot.com/. I have to list seven things that my bloggers my not know about me. And then I have to pass this tag along to seven of my blogging friends. So here it goes;

1. I don't like elevators.

2. I don't like to drive far from home.

3. I'm a home body.

4. I love nautical stuff and nautical decor.

5. I would love to live on the lake. Preferably Lake Huron.

6. Don't like to take medicine unless it's absolutely necessary.

7. I love macaroni & cheese. It's my favorite.

Instead of putting bloggy pressure on anyone and giving this to seven of my blogging friends. I'm just going to leave it up to my blogging friends to decide if they wish to participate in this tag. Please leave me a comment though if you do.
Now you all know seven things about me that perhaps you didn't know.

Goodbye Teddy, Goodbye...

Good morning to you all!

I just want to say that our family heard some good news concerning my father-in-law. The doctors gave my Dad a clean bill of health and say that he is doing good. As you know, he had open heart surgery on October 27, 2008. He did have some complications after the surgery so I did keep my cute little bear up on the top of my blog for him.

On a wonderful note, I'm glad that my father is doing much better. Although I'm sure it's going to be awhile until he feels 100%. But I feel it's time that the little home that I gave to that cute little bear up on my blog must go. He's so cute. And the trouble I had to go through to find the little guy after I accidentally lost him. I was searching for him for days! I think you all might remember that post.

So now it's time to say so long Teddy. You've been a good friend and a good reminder to keep my Dad in my daily prayers.

And all of you who wished my Dad well also, thank you from the bottom of my ♥.

Now I will make a last salute to my cute little Teddy Bear. (salute)

I'm signing off...from Peek-A-Boo Street!

I ♥ Washing Dishes

We got a new dishwasher about 1 1/2 years ago. But I do not like it. It runs for two hour that darn thing. And the racks in there are so darn small. I have a family of four and I am having to run two loads of dishes a day! Even when I get my first load of dishes under way, the sink is once again piling up while waiting for the first load to get finished.

So a few weeks ago, I started to wash the remaining dishes that could not fit into the dishwasher to just get them cleaned, out of the way and just be done with it all ready. I can't stand dirty dishes just sitting there.

One morning I woke up and just decided that I'm just going to wash all of those darn dishes by hand, the good old fashioned way. And that is what I have been doing these past few weeks. And I just do them once a day. I'll turn my radio on in the kitchen, and start washing dishes to some classical music station that's broad casted right here in Detroit.

I clean, dry and put away ALL of my dishes in less then an hours time. I love it! My kitchen sink is completely Empty! I wipe up all the counter tops and the stove and anything else that needs to be wiped down and I'm on my way to do something else, with my kitchen completely cleaned!

And I know it sounds weird but I really am enjoying washing the dishes by hand. It really isn't a problem. I get to listen to some music along with it to. But I really like the time that it is saving me.

The other night though I had to cut up raw chicken for a recipe and I had to us jalapenos so I did have to use my dishwasher that night. I also will have to for family get together's to. But for every day washing, it's really not a problem. I'm getting back to the basics.

I was so excited I bought all of my gear at the grocery store the other day. I know it sounds silly but I just couldn't wait to try out my new spongy glass cleaner. I Took some pics for you.

*Don't forget to wear your rubber gloves!

*Woohoo! My new spongy glass cleaner, which works great!

Okay, now that the dishes our done, I can get ready to go out with my hubby tonight. We're going out to an Italian restaurant just him and I. This will be a nice treat because we haven't been out together for awhile.

P.S. Oh by the way, I started another blog. It's a crochet blog. No bloggy pressure but if any of you would like to go check it out your most welcome to. Washing dishes rock!

I'm signing off...from Peek-A-B00 Street!

Yep...Leftovers Again

Oh shucks I hope my family don't mind leftovers. I was busy baking 40 cupcakes today so my son could bring 30 to school tomorrow for his class. He was chosen to be the "student" of the week. And well when the family came home from school and work, well I just had to tell them that we're just having leftovers tonight. Yeah...left over cupcakes!!!! =)

Trust me, no one minded having leftovers...not even me!!

Have a nice evening!

I ♥ Hugs!

Today I visited my bloggy friend Kathy at http://katshappyathome.blogspot.com/. And to my surprise she was sending cyber hugs out to her readers who visit her blog. That was so sweet. Thank you Kathy! I will gladly put this up on my sidebar.

Kathy got it rolling but why not keep the cyber hugs going. So I hope Kathy doesn't mind if I pass this adorable cyber hug stamp to my bloggy friends also. So if you are are a frequent reader of my blog, I would like to pass this hug along to all of you to. It's yours for the taking if you wish to have one on your blog.

Anyway, isn't this the cutest picture?

Thanks Mom For This Award!

I picked this award up on Carol's/Mom blog at http://charliandme.blogspot.com/ whom she offered to all of her blogging friends.

Thank you Mom for this sweet award. I will lovingly add it to my sidebar. I hope all of my blogging friends will stop over to see my Mom's blog over at Charli & Me. Her blog link is above.

In turn I must pass this blogging award along to all of my blogging friends. There are no rules attached to this award. All you have to do is just pick it up to add to your blog if you'd like. Just let me know in my comments if you will be picking one up. Have a beautiful day!

Thrifty Annie

Okay so I think I got a deal. I needed a punch bowl for my Mardi Gras Madness Punch that I'm going to make for my party. And yes, this will not be a kiddie punch bowl, lol. =)

So I was on the hunt looking for a punch bowl.

I know that if I went to a department store, they would be at least $40-50, I'm sure.

I seen some plastic punch bowls that you get at those card shops. There the ones where you can also buy decorations for different theme parties. That's is where I got my decoration for my party as well. Well the plastic punch bowls were $16. I don't think that included cups and a ladle.

So I remembered back in the fall when I went to a couple of Salvation Army Thrift Stores in my area, that I had seen punch bowls.

So I went to one yesterday and did not like the two they had. One had grapes on it and the other was in a square design and I just didn't want that one. So of course I headed to the other one on the other side of town. But I first stopped back in at home to grab some lunch.

When I get to the other thrift shop, I seen that they only had one. It has roses on it and I didn't care for that one either. So I circled around and still could not find anymore punch bowls. I don't know why, but I turned around one more time and seen this box around the corner where the rose punch bowl was tucked in on the bottom shelf. I noticed it was a punch bowl. And I absolutely loved it! I opened it up and seen that it was practically brand new. It came with it's original box. There were no chips and all eight cups were in there. It also had the ladle that was wrapped in it's original wrapper. It also came with the plastic hooks that you can hang on the edge of the glass bowl to hold the cups. I don't even think that bag has ever been open. It looked like it was never used. Of course I have to wash it really, really good. Then I seen the price...$15.99 for the whole thing. I was like woo hoo, I'll take it! Of course I had to take a few pictures for you all to see. I also took a picture of the cups we will be using for the punch instead of the glass ones.

Now I have to go and try a chicken jambalaya recipe along with some black eyed-peas. I hope it turns out. It's suppose to be on the menu for the party. That's why I want to try it out ahead of time to see how it tastes. If it doesn't turn out than I guess it's just going to have to be pizza. But I wanted the food to be authentic. I hope everyone is having a great day!

My Hubby's Hot, Hot, Hot!

Well I do think my hubby is nice lookin' but let me explain!

He has been in the kitchen tryin' to perfect these little appetizer's that he's been makin'. He's made these for the past few weekends now. I told him that I want him to make these for the Mardi Gras party that we're definitely having. It's on. Oh yeah baby, it's on, lol!!!! I'll have to talk more about the party later.

But anyway my hubby has been making these, I don't know what you would call them. They sort of remind of those Poppers. The ingredients are simple. Jalapenos, washed, halved, seeded and rinsed with cool water. Then pat them dry with a paper towel. Then he will put some cream cheese on the jalapenos. Then he will take a piece of raw bacon and wrap the jalapenos and hold it together with a toothpick. Place tinfoil on a cookie sheet and then place the jalapenos on there. He will bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for at least an hour.

It's weird, sometimes they will be more spicier than other times. But these are really good. They also seem to be more spicier when their still warm so I will eat them when they cool off a bit more. I took a picture for you to see.

P.S. My hubby said to me, "Are you going to say on your blog that I made them?" I told him of course I will give credit for where credit is due. =) This is my hubby's recipe, not mine. =)