A Country Music Concert?

Back in December. my sister (E) called and said that she wanted to buy the kids tickets to a country music concert. WHAT? Wait a minute...I don't need our almost 9 year old son and our 7 year old daughter getting that kind of education! Hubby & I don't even know anything about current music. I have figured out why parents don't know anything about music after they have a family. It's simple...you start listening to The Wiggles and then Disney music trying to educate your children while shielding them from the real world. But, you can always count on E to educate the kids in a way only E can do. She's been schooling them on Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean for months.

Well, she kept working on us about the concert assuring us that it would be an calm crowd in the smaller venue in Greenville, SC. So what happened? This weekend we were on our way to enjoy our Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean concert tickets-Christmas presents from E. 

We had a pre-concert dinner at Sobe's in Greenville-yummy but pricey.

Then we were off to Bi-Lo Center for the concert. We paid $25 to park, but it was all worth it when we walked our short distance to and from the car in the rain.

 LAUREN ALANA was added to the line-up. She started the show for the first 20 minutes.

Then we had a break while they changed the equipment on the stage which was the perfect time for pictures of the concert-goers!

 Can you see we are on the top row? E said it's because the mama took so long deciding if we were allowed to go! The stage was set-up where there were people 360 degrees around the arena. We were actually behind the stage. The performers did move around singing to all sides.

 Our Girl was getting dressed for the concert and referred to her outfit as her"costume." She wanted to have her hat on in the hotel so that her costume would look just right. To complete our boys costume, we got out his camo truckers hat that he got free at Home Depot. Now that I think of it, I think it says Toyota Trucks...hmmm...I don't think country singers sing about Toyotas...oops!

 We brought Our Boy's glasses so he could see, and E brought binoculars too. Does this crowd look ready or what?

 LUKE BRYAN

 JASON ALDEAN

 Lauren Alana sang Kelly Clarkston's part of Don't You Wanna Stay.

Here's how the kids looked starting around 10pm. We all had fun, and E was right...it was a calm crowd with not too much education. Now Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean have a few more fans.

One more area of good news...our hotel experience in Greenville was much better than when we went to Tuscaloosa. We did notice there were some interesting people around the lobby. Then we discovered that they were having a Narcotics Anonymous retreat going on at our hotel. Never a dull moment...never!

Brothers

Here is what happens when a sister leaves her "Lego Friends" out on the kitchen counter...this scene has brother written all over it!

 

Girl Legos

Today Our Girl bought some of the new "Girl" Legos with her allowance money that she's been saving. Lately, she's been saying that she wants to be a vet when she grows up. So...she picked the vet Lego set.

It's hard to decide who looks more interested in the new Lego set?

Happy 77th Birthday Elvis!

Did you know that today would have been Elvis' 77th birthday? Well, we did because we went to his birthday party at the National Archives in Atlanta. They played some YouTube videos of Elvis performing and they had a birthday cake to celebrate too:

 There were documents on display like this one where Elvis wrote a letter to President Nixon asking for a meeting with him to get a federal narcotics officer badge. Hmmmm...wonder if he ever got it?

Our Boy wasn't too happy to learn that you have to be 14 to do research handling the documents at the archives. But, the kids learned how to search the online database at http://www.archives.gov/ . Our Boy is eager to search for documents on the Titanic and on Coca-Cola.

E's Trip to New Orleans

My sister, "E," likes to go and experience. For New Years, she went to New Orleans. Whenever she goes somewhere, she brings home treasures for us. About a year ago, I asked E to change our treasures to only edible ones. You know...there is only so much room for treasures, but there is always room for edible treasures, right?

From this trip, E brought us pralines:

She brought each of the kids a gummy gator:

She also brought the kids an artist's print. She brought our boy a low country boil print that has two of his favorite things...shrimp and corn (does that count as edible?):

She brought Our Girl a print of a scene of Jackson Square:

Thanks E for the treasures!

Spaghetti with Chicken and Tomatoes

Last January I posted some chicken recipes; therefore, I thought I'd post a chicken recipe this January too. I found this recipe on Pinterest. We had it for dinner tonight. I modified the recipe which you'll see below, but here is the real thing from Gina at skinnytaste.com.

Spaghetti with Chicken and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breast halves, diced in 1 inch cubes

cooking spray

salt and pepper

8 oz angel hair spaghetti

2 cups grape tomatoes

a shake of garlic powder
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Season diced chicken generously with salt & pepper. Heat a large skillet on high heat. When hot, spray with cooking spray and add chicken. Cook about 3-4 minutes, until no longer pink. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.

While pasta cooks, add olive oil to skillet on high heat. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and garlic powder. Reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté about 4-5 minutes. Drain pasta. If pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water (great idea...why didn't I think of that before?) Top with tomatoes, fresh basil and chicken. Can top with good grated cheese.
 
 

Somebody's Getting Glasses

Our Boy's been telling us that he can't see far away...mostly when he's watching TV. He's also been complaining of headaches. Today we went to the eye doctor, and...well...he can't see far away. Looks like somebody in the family is getting glasses to start 2012. He'll have them in about a week. Here's a nice shot of the frames he picked with his dilated eyes:

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2011 & Hello 2012! And just like that...it's another year behind us. Do you remember being small and thinking that you'd never grow up? And now the years just keep flying by with each one going faster than the one before it.

Seems like we were just bringing Our Boy & Our Girl home from the hospital, and now...

and now...one of them is picking out what she wants to wear...like these fancy boots!

TIME...please...slow....down!!