Birthdays, fishing, & fried chicken

I'm still here, still alive.

Still taking a lot of time off of the Internet

to spend with my family.

Shamefully, not taking a whole lot of pictures.

The weekend before last, my mom & nephew

came up for a few days.

It's always such a joy to have an older kid in our house

...even if sometimes I really REALLY

wanted to play the "quiet mouse, still mouse" game.

Last weekend we went down to my hometown

and enjoyed a few days there.

It was Bubba's birthday, so we made a family favorite -- dinner in the skillet.

It's my grandma's recipe,

and I suspect it comes from the Depression era

because it only contains ground beef, pasta, tomato sauce,

bell pepper, onion, and cheese.

Ground beef, bell pepper, tomato sauce & onion

they would have grown themselves,

pasta was cheap (and probably made herself),

and cheese was fairly inexpensive.

Every time we eat it, I think of Grandma.

I can SMELL it & think of her.

Bubba blew out 39 candles on a homemade birthday cake

with the BEST frosting I've ever put in my mouth.

(And I've put a LOT of frosting in my mouth over the years!)

The boys enjoyed an afternoon of fishing....

the last few times they've went fishing,

they've thrown it all back & came home empty handed!

This time, I made SURE they knew they better

NOT throw the fish back.

I'm ready for a fish fry!

Thankfully for them, they came back with about 10 fish.

That's a good start to the 50+ it will take to feed our extended family. ;)

We also had supper over with my sisters & dad.

Sara always loves a chance to play with her cousins,

and ya'll know I can't turn down an invitation to fried chicken!

And nope, not ONE single picture of either weekend!

Right now, miss Sara is sick AGAIN.

I am SO ready for sunshine & hot weather!

Bring on the shorts, t-shirts, & beach/pool/lake/pond/creek!