The Whatley's hooplah

wow it's been a while since we posted....

The Whatleys — Tue, 30 May 2006 11:29:00 GMT

Thanksgiving

The Whatleys — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 09:15:00 GMT

We had a very small one this year with just our family and Mom and Claudia. It was lovely but I hope the rest of the family can make it to town next year.

Recipe exchange...I'll keep adding if I get more!

The Whatleys — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 08:43:00 GMT

Chicken Cacciatore, serves 8

1 large onion, chopped

½ c. bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ # fresh mushrooms, sliced (or some canned ones)

15 oz. can diced tomatoes

8 oz. can tomato sauce

½ c. white wine

2 t. salt

scant ½ t. ground oregano

¼ t. ground thyme

8 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in bite-sized pieces

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite-sized pieces (~ 1 pound)

Spray pot with slight amount olive oil. Sauté/sweat onion, bell pepper, and garlic until they begin to soften. Add mushrooms and sauté a few minutes more. Add everything except the chicken and combine well. Sink the chicken in the sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for 35 - 45 minutes. Serve hot on spaghetti or rice.

Per serving: 146 Cal, 4g Fat, .5 Sat, 46.5g Chol, 1.4g Fbr, 8g Carb, 17.4g Prot.

(Does not include spaghetti or rice.)

Subject: World"s easiest cake

1- 20 oz. can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup

1-21 oz can cherry pie filling

1-2 layer size yellow cake mix

1-3oz can (1 cup) chopped pecans

1/2 cup(1 stick) butter or marg. chilled

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9x13 pan. Spread pineapple w/ syrup evenly in prepared pan. Spoon pie filling evenly over the pineapple. Sprinkle dry cake mis over fruits the sprinkle nuts. Slice butter thinly, put evenly over the top and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Enjoy, Rene

Smothered Venison ala Gumbo, serves 4

1 # venison steaks, sliced ~ ½” thick, pounded to tenderize

Salt and pepper

1 T. canola oil

2 T. flour

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 ribs celery W/ leaves, chopped

½ c. bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ c. red wine

1 – 2 cups water

1/8 t. dried ground thyme, or 3 sprigs fresh

¼ t. dried marjoram leaves, crumbled, or ¾ t. chopped fresh leaves

Dash cayenne pepper

1 cup rice

Chop vegetables and set aside. Salt and pepper the meat, then pound to break up fibers.

Spray a heavy skillet with olive oil, or non-stick vegetable cooking spray, and heat. Brown meat quickly at high heat. Do not crowd skillet, or the meat will steam instead of browning. Set meat aside, and reduce heat to medium. Add oil and flour to skillet, and cook, stirring, until it’s a medium dark roux. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, and sauté until tender. If mixture seems too dry, reduce the heat to medium/low, cover the pan, and sweat until tender. While the vegetables are cooking, pull thyme leaves from stems and chop the marjoram leaves. When the vegetables are tender, add wine and seasonings, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Return the meat to the pan. Add enough water to just cover the meat. Stir slightly. Simmer, covered, ~ 45 min. to 1 hour, or until the meat is very tender. Cook the rice while the meat is simmering. Adjust the seasonings. Serve over rice.

Per ¼ recipe: 95mg chol, 7g Fat, 1.25g Sat, 365 Cal, 2.5g Fbr, 42g Carb, 30.4g Prot.

Elena darling,

Can you believe I got you on the list and here I am in China!

Well, here goes. I think I have figured out how they cook some of the things I love here. One of the things I had in a Japanese restaurant was bacon wrapped asparagus.

They used the small asparagus, and wrapped maybe 5 of them with bacon, the asparagus was cut to only about 3" because of course you had to pick them up with chopsticks, but then they must have cooked it in a medium hot skillet cause the bacon got done, but the aspargus was crisp tender. They must have put a toothpick in it to hold it, but when it was served there were no toothpicks in them.

The broccoli is wonderful here and I think they just cook it in a wok over high heat with some water, then drain it and put just a little oyster sauce mixture with a little soy in it and stir it to coat it. The broccoli is bright green and just done. Honey that is the best I can do with no recipe cards or cook books here.

Love, Sharron

Swedish Cole Slaw

Shred:
   1 lg. Head Cabbage
   1/2   Green Pepper
   large onion diced up fine

Boil:
   1 Cup Sugar
   1 Cup White Vinegar
   2/3 Cup Oil
   2 teaspoons salt

Pour boiling liquid over vegetables. Let stand until cold before stirring. Cover and place in refrigerator.   Three days or older is best. I put into a large jar and rotate that once per day. Especially good with ham or turkey.

Hopefully this isn't cheating. I don't use many recipes to cook. This is my favorite:

Knorr vegetable soup mix spinach dip

Pour one pkg of Knorr veggie soup into a bowl with thawed chopped frozen spinach.

Add can of water chestnuts

Mix together with a pint of sour cream. can substitute mayonnaise or yogurt, or mix and match.

I also add artichokes.

Aunt Laura's Oyster Bread Dressing

Day before

1 stick butter

Add

2 medium onions, minced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. Poultry seasoning

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/3 fresh Parsely, chopped

2 cups chopped celery with leaves

--Saute gently for 5 minutes--

add 2 small cans drained mushrooms-save the liquid

add 6 cups stale- cut up bread and toss gently

add more bread if needed

Taste and adjust seasoning with Lea and Perrins (adding 1 tsp. or so)

Put in a large bowl and refrigerate

Next day

Take out and retoss

1 1/2 pints of oysters (if they are too big, cut in half)

add 2 beated egg

add muchroom or oyster liquid to moisten (slightly- you can always add slightly more as it cooks)

Bake, at 325 degrees,in an oiled baking dish covered with foil, for 1 hour.

Greek Moussaka

Recipe Summary

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings

3 Large Eggplants

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Extra-Virgin Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 lemon, sliced in thin circles

1 handful fresh oregano leaves, chopped

2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 pounds ground lamb (or sub. ground turkey meat, just not as rich)

1 cinnamon stick

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 (16-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

To prepare the eggplants: Cut off the stems, remove the skin with a vegetable peeler, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick slices. Season all the pieces of eggplant with salt and pepper on both sides. Coat a large skillet with oil and heat over medium flame. Fry the eggplant in a single layer, turning once, until brown on both sides-you will need to do this in batches, adding more oil, as necessary. Drain the eggplant as they cook on a paper towel-lined platter.

Add a little more oil to the pan and toss in the opinion, garlic, oregano, and parsley. Cook and stir until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the ground lamb, stirring to break up the meat; season with salt and pepper, and toss in the cinnamon stick. Stir in the tomato paste and hand-crushed tomatoes. Simmer until the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish with 1/3 of the eggplant slices; they should completely cover the bottom with no gaps. Spread 1/2 of the meat sauce over the eggplant, evening it out with a spatula. Sprinkle with 1.2 of the feta and Parmesan. Repeat the layers again, ending with a final layer of eggplant. Cover the top with a nice even layer of bread crumbs. Bake the moussaka for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

that's it for now but I'll keep adding if more come in. cool!

footballs finally over.

The Whatleys — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:03:00 GMT

It's Christmas time!

The Whatleys — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 16:54:00 GMT

There here....the Iwants...I'm sure I'll be adding as they think of all the things that they “want sooooooo bad!“

Leila’s Christmas list

X-box and game
Book- Eloise 50^th anniv.
Play along magic doodle bear
New leap pad books
New games for her gameboy
Samantha doll clothes and furniture (american girl)
Jewelry
Stuff from bath and body shop
Tall black boots
Clothes and dresses
New pajamas for cool weather (soft or she won’t wear)

Tyler’s Christmas list

X- box and game
Magnetix or geomag sets
Roborapter
Book-Spiderwick field guide
The chronicles of Narnia
Eyewitness books
Nerf street zone dart tag
Lego sets
Skate board
CSI forensic kits
Telescope
Acutic guitar
Star wars milineum falcon
real bow and arrow (kid size)

Carter’s Christmas list

X-box and game
Curious George books
Zathura
There’s something there (book)
Imaginext T-Rex mountain
My first leap pad spiderman book
Aquadoodle
Animal planet R/C dragon
Magnetix or geomag sets
Air hockey table
Nerf street zone dart tag
Batman batmobile
Hover copter

School has started!

The Whatleys — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 10:23:00 GMT

Carter was a little scared, can you tell? He still cries when I drop him off in the mornings but is happy and excited when I pick him up. Leila already has 3 new best friends and other just friend, friends...lol. Tyler said that yesterday was a really good day. He made a friend named Mason and they played Robin Hood at recess together.

There's a horse in our front yard!

The Whatleys — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 10:20:00 GMT

Our next door neighbors had 2 horses in their yard the other day and saddled up this little girl for the kids to have a ride. They thought it was super. Geez, I wish there had been a pony ride living next door to me when I was little. Lucky kids!

Here are 2 of the baby's all grown up.

The Whatleys — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 10:18:00 GMT

Here are Elmer and lucky looking all grown up. I still need to find a home for Elmer, Baby went home to Rene over the weekend and Lucky is staying with us. They are 8 weeks old now.

Family on the fourth! (minus me)

The Whatleys — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 09:29:00 GMT

True American Family (mom's taking the picture :(

Our neighborhood pool hosts an annual fourth of July Parade. Local groups make floats and all the big kids decorate thier bikes and ride around. Since we live two lots from the pool we get the first look. The kids love it because the floats throw candy and little novelties. I found out that they have a best dressed pet contest first thing, so we'll have to enter that next year...look at those pups...how could we lose?

The baby's at 4 weeks

The Whatleys — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:06:00 GMT

Lucky is in the middle, Elmer is on the right and baby is on the left.

Leo the very lucky cockapoo

The Whatleys — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 09:29:00 GMT

This is our new puppy. (don't say it dad!) He is 2 lb but will grow to a very nice 15-20lb. He was very sick last week and our vet, the breeder and the doctor at the animal hospital all said it would take a lot to keep him alive. Well I gave all of myself to him and it was very hard to keep him going but today he is a royal brat. He lost 1/2 his body weight in a day and a half but has gained it all back. He eats like a pig now (I think he's trying to make up for lost time). He runs around the house and tries to beat up the cats, which are 4 times his size...lol.

Elmer is on the left with the yellow face, Lucky is in the middle and baby is on the right

The Whatleys — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:21:00 GMT

they are 14, 12 and 11 days old today.

Tyler had a great time at Cubscout camp!

The Whatleys — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 09:16:00 GMT

Tyler made new friends, learned archery and came home soaking wet everyday. What more could a young boy ask for?

Elmer

The Whatleys — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 15:17:00 GMT

They sure do develop fast! This picture is of Elmer at 10 days old. That's only 3 days since the last picture. Now his eyes are open and you can see he's getting pin feathers all over his wings. His skin has turned grey in those area's so he may be a normal grey. (or pearl grey or pied grey). Lucky (they 2nd born also has the tips of his wings turning a little grey today) He is 2 days behind Elmer and then the third one is a day younger than lucky. He's still a yellow puffball.

Baby bird is one week old.

The Whatleys — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:21:00 GMT

The birds are doing very well. We now have three baby birds who are all doing great. I'm fairly certain that the last two eggs are dead in shell as they were supposed to hatch 2 days ago and changed from a white pink color to a kind of grey color. I will probably take them out tonight. “Elmer, as Tom likes to call him is just starting to open his eyes. I bet by tomorrow he'll be looking around. Yay for Mrs. Fritz!

Mrs. Fritz is now a mom

The Whatleys — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:26:00 GMT

She laid 6 eggs. The first laid cracked and I didn't know what to do and so it dried up. I took it away from her. The second egg laid also got cracked but I knew to put some elmers glue on it(go figure!), which I did and it just hatched tonight! It is the cutest ugly thing I've ever seen. I quickly took this picture of it but the parents were getting pretty testy so I decided to leave them alone. What I want to know is how the heck that big baby fit into that teeny tiny egg! The first twelve hours are pretty touch and go but hopefully we'll be lucky and he'll still be kicking come morning. We have four more eggs to go. The next one should hatch around Saturday I think. I'll keep you posted.

Leila lost her first tooth!

The Whatleys — Mon, 09 May 2005 11:07:00 GMT

Spring is just about out of here...my garden tales

The Whatleys — Mon, 02 May 2005 15:20:00 GMT

Well, Tyler harvested the potatoes and Leila just pulled the carrots. Tom built me a new arbor for the back yard and I just finished putting in a path. We have planted more vegetables out front this year since we didn't get enough sun in the back. We decided to go with Whiskey barrels to keep them a little more tidy. veggies have a way of looking sloppy. Please take a look at the galleries section for lots of pictures! They are in the one called Gardening 2005, go figure!

Here's Leila standing in front of chocolate mint, apple mint, strawberries, nasturtiums, canna's, chamomile, pineapple sage, bee balm and lemon balm. oh, and angel wing jasmine! She had lots of fun pulling these up and we are going to eat them for dinner!

Leila's ice skating...and loves it!

The Whatleys — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:02:00 GMT

Our first cockatiel clutch

The Whatleys — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:54:00 GMT

We were told by the bird store that our sweet cockatiel was a boy. Well, I beg to differ after seeing this! lol She just celebrated her first birthday last month so now she's of breeding age. Maybe we'll find a nice lutino man for her. (lutino is an all yellow cockatiel, not a misspelling. lol)

Am I cute or what?

The Whatleys — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:23:00 GMT

This is our new box turtle. We won't be able to tell if it's a boy or girl for a while but for now I'm just going to assume female because....I want to!

Tyler's finger

The Whatleys — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 09:52:00 GMT

Well, I know it happens to every kid but yesterday it happened to Tyler. Leila slammed the sliding mini-van door on Tyler's finger. It was super gross! It looked like an alligator had chewed on it a bit. So at peak traffic time I drove downtown to his doctor for an x-ray. Luckily it's not broken but even the doctors thought it looked horrible. They almost sent me to the ER because no one wanted to deal with it. Apparently a lot of skin was ripped off and they are afraid of scarring but I think it will be just fine. They put this funny gauze splint on it and told me to bring him back today (of course at rush hour again) for a look. He wanted to wait for the swelling to go down before he tried to put the skin back together or to trim it off. ICK! Anyways after the initial 15 minutes of crying Tyler was a trooper and very very brave. Hopefully it won't be too bad when they look at it today. Wish him luck.

Fred William has come home

The Whatleys — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 17:32:00 GMT

Our little Fred has been gone for over a year. We had an incident where the dogs jumped into the turtle enclosure and pulled him out. (we will be moving it, I promise!) Then when they dropped him he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him to the ditch/bayou behind our house. We searched and searched to no avail. We have looked from time to time hoping that he would show up. (they say that box turtles usually live in a one acre area and just circulate, kink of a homing device thing) Anyways I had certainly given up hope until this afternoon. I was outside packing for our spring camp out with the cub scouts when my neighbor who was walking her dog ran up my driveway. “didn't you guys loose a turtle?” she said, and then promptly pulled a turtle from behind her back. She said she was visiting with the neighbor across the street (who was watering her flowers) when all of a sudden she saw movement in the grass out of the corner of her eye. I was very worried about him (I guess I still am) because his eyes were shut. This is not good for a turtle. They won't eat with their eyes closed. Anyways I soaked him really good a few times and luckily I think he was just dehydrated because his eyes are starting to open now. It's probably why he was heading for her flowers in the middle of the day. He has probably just come out of hibernation and is dehydrated and hungry. I'll keep a close eye on him for a while and give Tom some time to make a very secure turtle enclosure. Hooray for Fred! I really did miss him. I don't know why?

Easter

The Whatleys — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 12:43:00 GMT

More Feeling

The Whatleys — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:03:00 GMT

Carter had a great birthday party at the Houston Zoo. He got a new pirate ship and announced that his old one was for babies and he would not play with it anymore. Tyler has a pine wood derby kit to work on and he's trying to sell scout fair tickets. Leila has a crush on one of her classmate's older brother. Elena decided to remodel one of the bathrooms, which is now a pile of rubble (our house is made of concrete). We have a newish puppy, Stella, a lab/aussie mix, whose herding instincts are coming out by nipping at everyone's and everything's heels. I turn up the radio and sing as loud as I can in my car on the way to work every day. My cheer is pissing off some people at the office. Every day is better than the one before, we hope this pink cloud lasts.

Carter's Four!

The Whatleys — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:49:00 GMT

Happy Birthday Love!

Carter made this cake (almost) all by himself, frosting and all.

sleeping better

The Whatleys — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:25:00 GMT

It took three weeks but they (the sleep study people and the doctor) finally put in for a machine for me. More on that later.

I'm nearly convinced that the medical profession is just a face for pharmaceutical/medical equipment companies. The company that provides the CPAP equipment has a different fee schedule for insurance. “Insurance sets the price of the equipment, they say $2250” I told them that barely covers the deductable and that I was going the research buying the equipment myself on-line and they said “Oh, well if your paying direct then we can cut that price in half.” So, long story short, It set us back $1100, most of which is covered in our medical savings plan. Of course this is not supposed to count toward my deductable, but I'm going to submit a claim anyway.

About that insurance. According to HR, we now have “new and better insurance”, but somehow they cost more and pay less. Our deductable is high, and the coverage after deductable is only 80% (this is the buy up plan).

The good, actually great news is that I now have a Cflex heated humidified CPAP machine. Works great. I've been using it for five nights now and in spite of the fact that I've had a cold for that same five days, I have noticed a huge difference already. I'm really getting my energy back, doing tons of stuff around the house and getting great workouts at the gym. My chronic yawning, which I first thought was hyperventilation syndrome and then that it was part of the “suffocating” symptom anxiety produces, has completely left me. My heart doesn't race after every set in the gym. I feel like I'm getting back to being me again. Which is great because I can stop focusing on my little bubble and get back to thinking about others. Elena and the kids have been very patient the past year and they deserve everything I can do for them.

New Year's Eve = great night of sleep!!

The Whatleys — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 13:56:00 GMT

You ever heard of Reggie White? The Minister of Defense, No. 92, who played for Green Bay, died last month at 43. Initial reports say he died of cardiac arrhythmia brought on by sarcoidosis and sleep apnea.

That woke me up. For over a year now I've been plagued by mysterious health problems; PVCs, shortness of breath, chronic yawning, easily fatigued, low testosterone and high anxiety. I'm taking Zoloft for the anxiety and hormone replacement therapy for the low testosterone. All of the other health problems have been chalked up to my anxiety. Until now.

My wife has been complaining to me about my sleep problems for years. I snore like a bear and have had sleep apnea for at least the last 5 years. We both thought that I should have it checked out but always figured it was more of an inconvenience than anything else. Reggie White's death made me make an appointment.

I went to see Dr. Jamal Razzack, a cardio-pulmonologist who specializes in sleep apnea. He ordered a sleep study to determine the type and severity of my sleep apnea, which will enable us to successfully treat it. My company changed insurance on January 1, 2005 and no one knows what the new insurance company will cover. Our old insurance was United Healthcare, who covers sleep studies 100%. So we scheduled the 2-night sleep study for 12/30 and 12/31.

North Houston Sleep Clinic

I checked in at 8:30 on 12/30 and spent 30 minutes filling out paperwork. They got me wired up and into bed by 9:30. This is what I looked like:

This is what the room looked like:

Not bad right?

That night was typical except that it took me what seemed like 3 hours to fall asleep. In the morning the technician told me that I actually fell asleep after only 15 minutes but I would immediately start snoring and wake myself up. I did that for 3 hours. Once I finally fell asleep I started snoring and started obstructing the airway, a.k.a. sleep apnea. The tech said my blood oxygen percent was in the low to mid 80s all night. Normal is 93% - 98%.

I returned the next night, New Year's Eve, for part 2 of the study. This is the part where I get some help. In addition to the monitoring wires I am attached to a “CPAP“ machine.

This Continuous Positive Air Pressure machine keeps my airway open all night. It took some tweaking but the tech was able to increase the pressure until my snoring and sleep apnea had stopped completely. Waking up was really weird. The first thing I noticed was that I needed to take a leak. That's normal. When I did I noticed that I didn't need to lean against the wall to steady myself. Hmmm, not normal. I felt fine. Not overly energetic, not ready to take on the world, just fine. As I drove away from the sleep clinic I headed for Starbucks but realized I wasn't sleepy or groggy at all, I got coffee anyway -not because I was tired, just to avoid a caffeine withdrawal headache. I worked for 5 hours, went to the gym, got home and did 6 hours of chores for Elena. When I was done I was not pooped at all. It was definitely a different feeling for me.

That was Saturday. This is Monday. I really notice how much the CPAP helped me now that I've had a couple of days without it. I woke up tired with a headache this morning and am feeling spent already. I have to wait for the Doctor to review the results of the sleep study and write me a prescription for my own CPAP machine. I hope he gets on that soon. By the way, the sleep clinic tech told me that I may not notice any change after just one night on the CPAP, but that after 30 days it will be very noticeable. Wow.

The symptoms I have had in the last year which are common to sleep apnea include:

Reduced testosterone levels in men.
Hypertension.
Anxiety accompanied by anxiety attacks and feelings of panic and lack of control.
Disturbed eating patterns and a craving for sugar and starchy foods.

To all a good night!! - Tom

Christmas Lists have begun...

The Whatleys — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 13:48:00 GMT

Tyler...(birthday too) you can view some of these items and a few more at amazons wish list page http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=cm_wl_topnav_all-product-search/104-7031041-9240752?type=wishlist

Draco Malfoy action figure
full size skateboard (got it)
light saber sword (lights and sounds one) (got it)
Yu-gi-oh cards (got some)
Camera
Gameboy and games (maybe used on e- bay?)
Leap pad books
Spider Man stunt system
sky wineder
spider man triple action web blaster (got it)
transformers
Geomag set

Leila

Art easel (Ikea) (bought)
charms for her charm bracelet
clothes
shoes, cowboy boots, converse in different colors...
earing's
American Girl Doll clothes(Samantha, Josefina...) (she wants any and all clothes, accessories, etc. I have seen lots on e-bay)
Spanish Bingo
Leap pad books
stamps (so she can send letters)
click its
Magic Hair beader
Barbie cat bed and toys (at petsmart)

Carter

puzzles (more than 24 pieces)
fishing pole
books (curious george, mercer mayer, berenstein bears...)
leapfirst books
Rollerskate sneakers
remote control car
spider man action figure (with magnets)
r2d2 and c3po action figures
Mega blocks pirate ship

House gifts

4 slice toaster black or stainless
rug for Leila (round, yellows)
dishwasher- stainless steel inside (black or stainless)
flat panel monitor
x-box new or used and games !!!!!!!!!! (Tyler, but Tom too)
Harry potter 3 dvd (bought)
gift certificates to IKEA, Target, gap,old navy
Cranium Hullabaloo and Balloon Lagoon games

Happy Halloween!

The Whatleys — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 08:49:00 GMT

The kids had tons of fun last night cruising the neighborhood. They brought home a huge bounty of candy and stayed up late buzzing on their sugar highs. Why on earth do the kids get a day off of school for presidents day but not for Halloween? Do teachers actually expect to have well behaved children when they have been up late eating sugar all night? Seems ridiculous to me. Anyways, here are the kids behind each of their pumpkins. Check out the Halloween gallery for more pictures...the first six are from this year.

the libras

The Whatleys — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 10:15:00 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND TOM!!

we love you

Cub Scout Campout

The Whatleys — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 13:07:00 GMT

This past Saturday we all went to a cub scout campout. It was on Lake Sommerville, about 20 minutes away from the farm. We arrived early since the campout started the night before and we didn't want to miss too much. First thing was a hike, looking at flora and fauna. Then after lunch was fishing, soccor, and badmitten. Tyler participated in all and as a result earned his first three belt loops! (these are the “patches” for the young ones) Next was a crazy crazy relay race that involved donuts on strings and pudding on faces. Needless to say, the boys loved it. There was a big bonfire that night and Tyler and some older girls did a little skit. They had free for all also and Tyler got up there in front of everyone (terrifying for me) and told a joke. We all had a great time but Tyler really enjoyed himself and loves being a scout. Hes still excited to go to the den meeting tonight.

Getting ready

The Whatleys — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 15:20:00 GMT

I went to party city to find some pirate costumes for the boys and was VERY disappointed. Overpriced and made poorly and horrible bright colors. So I made a trip to good ol' Salvation Army (50% off clothes Wednesdays) and picked up some old leggings, tux shirts and vests. Then I saw this cute dress for Leila and for $1.50 I couldn't refuse. Anyways now we just have to find little accessories around the house to finish them off. They are having lots of fun acting out all kinds of Mutiny.

Tyler and his front teeth

The Whatleys — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 16:08:00 GMT

Now Tyler can ask for his two front teeth for Christmas.

Leila's big haircut

The Whatleys — Tue, 14 Sep 2004 13:14:00 GMT

I cut off over 8 inches of Leila's hair. Even though it took me two weeks to convince her (at the beginning she would sob at the thought) and I was very sad to see it go, it's much easier to handle for school. She was very worried about not having “princess” hair anymore. For all that we cut off it's still plenty long for pigtails and braids and what knot.

Busy Life

The Whatleys — Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:46:00 GMT

Well, it has begun. I have heard of families that were so busy they didn't eat dinner together and parents who didn't finish carpooling until bedtime but I never really thought it could happen to me. I was so wrong. Tyler has football this fall which takes up 2-3 nights a week. (supposedly but his coach is new and gung ho and wants to practice all the time) He is also in the cub scouts where somehow they roped me into being a den leader. ( Luckily I share this with another mom.) Leila is going to be a daisy girl (girl scouts) and starts in a week or so. Thank goodness Carter is too young to be involved in anything yet but I assume that he will want to sign up for some stuff soon too. So Monday night 5:20-7:20 we have football games, Tuesday night 6:00-7:45 we have Cub Scouts, Wednesday and Thursday 5:30-7p we have practice for football and thank goodness nothing yet on Friday. (although I don't know when daisy girls will be) Some of the weekends we also have games and some of them we have scouting field trips not to mention birthday parties. Also I forgot to mention that Tyler has at least 30 min of homework every night on top of that and that their bedtime is 7:30. So from now on, if you need me or my family call ahead of time to book your appointment. We'll need at least a two week notice and there will be a $25 charge for all cancellations.

Gale and Claudia's New puppy

The Whatleys — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:49:00 GMT

This is Lily Freckles, she is a 4 month old mut (we think rat terrier) adopted from the HSPCA last Saturday. She is happy and adorable and we welcome her into the family. Yay for Max. Jill might find it funny that she's named Lily, especially since her littermate sisters name was Hannah. These are Jills daughters names.

Carter and I making cake

The Whatleys — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 12:58:00 GMT

Carter and I just made a cake. Carter made sure it was going to taste ok.

My little Tiger Cub...

The Whatleys — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 09:06:00 GMT

Scout that is. Tyler is starting out in the world of scouting. Last week we attended a “pack” meeting and learned a lot about the group. We got our tiger cub handbook and Tyler signed up. He is so excited he has already learned the tiger cub motto, signal, and salute. He is already geared up and ready to start earning pins and beads and is bummed that I have told him that he should wait for his first meeting. Finally the time has come, the meeting is tonight and he is thrilled. We will keep you posted on all the excitement.

http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=cy click here to learn more

Petting zoo birthday party!

The Whatleys — Mon, 23 Aug 2004 11:31:00 GMT

This Saturday we all went over to Tom's sister's house for her daughters birthday. They had a petting zoo for the first hour of the party and my kids had the time of their lives! There were 2 pony's, 2 goats, 1 baby pig, 1 duck, 2 chickens, 4 turtles, several rabbits and several baby chicks. Tyler rode the pony I think 4 times but he really loved holding the chickens and leading the other pony around the yard with it's halter. He helped put all the animals back in their cages for the ride home and was the last one outside. Leila could not stay away from the baby chicks and really wants one of her own. Carter had fun with them all but didn't want to ride the pony. He pulled the goats around the yard a little. The birthday party was fabulous, of course, all of Jill's are. Anyone else want to have a petting zoo party? Well be there!

Update on Anxiety

The Whatleys — Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:32:00 GMT

After much protest from me, I conceded to my doctor that medication might help my anxiety. He gave me a sample 5 week course on Zoloft. I ain't crazy about it (pun intended). However, I have to admit that I feel much better. In fact I haven't had any attacks and very few symptoms since the first week (I'm starting my fourth week). I have some reservations though. What long term effects will this drug have? And, am I supposed to be on this forever?? Will my brain just start working again by itself and if so, how will I know?

To add a twist to this, I had told my doctor that my anxiety symptoms didn't really jive with my mental, spiritual and emotional health, and that I thought there must be something physical causing this. I suspected hormone problems. We did blood work and low and behold I'm low on testosterone. ME of all people. So I've started hormone replacement therapy for that. The interesting thing is that symptoms of low testosterone include, among other things, changes in blood pressure, irregular heart beat, and in some cases anxiety and nervousness. It is essentially male menopause. Well, I feel really great these days, but I'm thinking that maybe the Zoloft is unnecessary. I'll have to talk to my doctor about it. Of course, I have the same reservations about taking hormones as I do about taking Zoloft. Arghhhh!!

You know what. I took my family to Herman Park this past Saturday. We had a picnic and the kids fished for perch.Then we ate at one of these yuppified taco places. I had a great work out that afternoon at the gym. And the Texans shut out the Cowboys. That was a great day. And so is today. I guess that's whats important.

Crash!...Boom!...Bang!...

The Whatleys — Thu, 12 Aug 2004 12:35:00 GMT

Insurance doesn't work in Texas. I carry liability only on my 93 Buick, but I do have uninsured motorist coverage.

This past Tuesday I got into a wreck. Pretty simple really. I was turning left to cross a busy street. There were cars blocking my view so that I had to pull into the oncoming lane about 15". Now this is something I ordinarily wouldn't do. I happens that I was in a hurry and instead of going down to the light and turning there, which would have added maybe 3-4 minutes to my errand, I wanted to take the risk. Turns out it was a bad decision. What I saw was a Toyota SUV coming up fast. He was probably speeding, he surely could have missed me if he'd reacted quicker, the lane he was in had a 3' bike lane next to it so there was plenty of room. But that's not what happened. His front drivers side came across my front passenger side just about perpendicular. Took off my front clip, headlight, bent out my fender. His car was dented in that corner, headlight cracked, tire flat.

My insurance company said that he was only partially to blame, and I was also partially to blame. What percentage didn't really matter because HE HAD NO INSURANCE!! If he had insurance then each insurance company would have paid whatever percent damage was cause by their driver. But, since he didn't my insurance company pays a percent of his damage and my uninsured motorist pays nothing on mine. Uninsured motorist insurance doesn't pay if you have any blame in the accident.

So lets recap. I pay premiums to this company for the last 5 years; never get into an accident. He quit paying on his back in January. My insurance is going to fix his car, not fix mine, and my rates go up, while he probably keeps riding around with no insurance. I checked into this guy. Not only does he not pay insurance, he owes back property taxes. Well the good news is that nobody got hurt and karma's a bitch.

In Louisiana they have a no pay no pay law. If you don't carry liability insurance, you don't get paid no matter whose fault it is. Ok ... I'm over it now. Anybody know a reputable, cheap body shop?

7:20 am FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL!

The Whatleys — Thu, 12 Aug 2004 07:23:00 GMT

Beach Party part Duex

The Whatleys — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 10:45:00 GMT

Well, it was the beach. What else can I say. No one got attacked by any sharks or any flesh eating bacteria. No one got sun burned. So it was all good. The group consisted of Gale, Claudia, Ben and the Whatley 5. Tim came down on Saturday and we fished late into the night at the Dirty Pellican Pier. We caught nothing. Well that's not entirely true. We both caught resentments at each other. Tim insisted on staying way past a reasonable time. And I spent the last two hours telling him “let's go”. So, it was a pretty good trip.

Beach house again

The Whatleys — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 15:41:00 GMT

Tom will you write this?

School Registration

The Whatleys — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:22:00 GMT

Well, it really is true...school is only a week away. I went by the school today and picked up their uniform-dress code list and the school supply list. I also was able to find out what teachers they were going to have and I'm happy to say that Leila will have the same teacher as Tyler did last year. Tyler is going to have a new Teacher (she was just hired) but a few of the kids that were in his class last year are with him so at least something will be familiar. Next Wednesday will be a meet the teacher and classmates hour and then Thursday will begin the new year. .........finally!

Restaurant review: Jarro Café

The Whatleys — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 10:10:00 GMT

Jarro Café

1521 Gessner Dr
Houston Texas 77080
713.827.0373

Holy crap....I can't believe I just now found this place. First of all, I am a connoisseur of Houston Mexican food, particularly taquerias. I have been eating at Houston taquerias since 1989; that's well before their surge of popularity. My favorites are (were) Arandas and La Tapatia but not all locations are the same. For example, the La Tapatilla in the Montrose pretty much sucks now. But this place, Jarro Café, rocks. The family who owns this place started out with a taco cart, they still get most of their business from the cart, which is parked out front. You walk in the place, grab a menu, and sit down. Don't expect anyone to come take your order, when you figure out what you want you gotta go place your order up at the counter. They don't send out just the standard basket of chips and bowl of salsa, they give you a tray with six different salsas. Each one is unique and very flavorful. They have tomatillo and serrano, smoky verde, dried chile and oil, red sauce sort of like Challula, pickled diced red onions, and (I forget the last one). The food was great, we had a Milanesa plate and an order of Cochinita Pibil (Yucatan style pork). I have to admit that I'm basing my review primarily on the salsas, but if you've eat at many taquerias around town you know the quality of their salsa is as good a benchmark as any. I'll be going back as often as my digestion will let me.

Back to School!

The Whatleys — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 09:50:00 GMT

Well, it's that time of year again when it's far too hot to imagine fall could be near but it's only 3 weeks till the little kiddo's go back to school. (hurray!!) Leila will be going into Kindergarten this year and Tyler will be a 1st grader. Time to go buy uniforms and backpacks, pencils and construction paper. Yipee! They will both be going to school right down the street. Carter still has a year to go (if he gets into pre-k) two if we don't qualify.

Vegetable Garden

The Whatleys — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:30:00 GMT

Eeewwww gross! Have you ever seen so many bugs on one tomato? I was trying to do organic but I'm having second thoughts.

Galveston and Milly

The Whatleys — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 11:00:00 GMT

We all went down to Bolivar last Thursday-Friday with my favorite sister Milly. We got a sweet deal from Toms ex-co-worker and were supposed to be accompanied by Gale and Claudia also but at the last minute mom got promoted to VP so she had to stay and do some work. Bummer. But we still had fun. Thursday was great. We went to the beach twice and had tons of fun. Tyler collected 10 hermit crabs. I took my camera the on the first trip and then decided to leave it on the second go round so that I didn't have to worry about sand/water/theft. I could have killed myself because my photographers eye was seeing such beauty the second time. About an hour before sunset it started and lasted for about an hour. The perfect lighting and sky. The clouds were just beautiful with white puffy clouds in front of dark black storm clouds and of course the reflection of the sun in the water. I would have needed a waterproof camera to get the good shots but ugh. Milly looked like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition model. Big time. Friday was overcast and rainy off and on but we still got in one last swim. Mostly we hung around playing games or reading. We all had so much fun we want to buy a beach house of our own! Well, someday, maybe.

sorry bout the head tilt.

aNxietY DisORdeR!!!

The Whatleys — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 16:56:00 GMT

.....or something. Since February I've had a several health concerns: arrhythmia in February, air hunger in April & May, lump in my throat from late June until now, all of which seem to have no physical causes. Lately I've had 3 anxiety/panic attacks. The latest one had all of these symptoms including a feeling of extremely high blood pressure. I felt like the veins in my neck were going to burst. I've seen a cardiologist, asthma/allergy doctors, my GP, and on Thursday will be going in for an upper GI. It might be Pheochromocytoma, however I think this must be stress / anxiety related, so I'll probably be meeting with a shrink soon, hmmm......

Anybody have any experience with any of this stuff?

Saturday

The Whatleys — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 11:43:00 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEILA!!!!

Return to Gallery | Original Image

Tyler's summer camp

The Whatleys — Mon, 28 Jun 2004 11:19:00 GMT

Tyler went to summer camp last week at the Houston museum of Natural Science. http://www.hmns.org/ They offer several different classes for ages 6-13. The one he chose was called “The Science beyond Hogwarts” which for those of you who live in a cave is the school that Harry Potter attends. Tyler loves Harry potter and all that goes with it so this was too perfect for him. Everyday they got sorted into different houses and did different activities like making slime, or making an apothecary set. They also explained to the kids how it all works. They took them on a field trip to the butterfly museum and they had a big Hogwarts feast to say goodbye. They actually made chocolate frogs and butter-beer and some other gross stuff like dragons drool. Tyler had an absolutely fabulous time and wants to do it all summer! We all also loved being able to peruse the museum during the drop off and pick up times. Tyler loves the dinosaur bones and Leila loved the rock and gem exhibit and Carter loved all the animals in the African exhibit. Tons of fun and I hope all the kids get a chance to do more.

Thanks mom!

Leila's wish list

The Whatleys — Mon, 14 Jun 2004 15:17:00 GMT

Leila's Birthday is coming up and here are a few of the things she has showed an interest in getting.

My little Pony pink backpack (for school) at Target--gift cards to Claire's--books--pencil sharpener and pretty pencils (not colored)--make up--not too tiny tea set (not plastic and preferably dishwasher safe)--shoes and clothes--Lisa frank stuff (this is a brand of stationary, stickers, all kinds of stuff)--easy bake oven packets--her own gardening set--

she's having a party on July 3rd outside...pray for a breeze!

Tea Party

The Whatleys — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:00:00 GMT

The kids had a tea party the other day. They all helped to make cake and cookies in their Easy Bake oven and then laid out a little tablecloth. They all made up tea names and had a great time playing together. Sometimes they are so cute!

Leila's last day

The Whatleys — Fri, 28 May 2004 09:11:00 GMT

Leila had her last day of school yesterday. They had a fun water day and she was exhausted when I went to pick her up. She said to me that she would really miss Bear Blvd. school but now she was going to be in school with Tyler so it was OK. Here are some photo's of her and her friends and teachers.

http://jumano.com/blogs/elena/gallery/179.aspx

Tyler Graduated...Kindergarten that is.

The Whatleys — Fri, 28 May 2004 09:07:00 GMT

Well it's official, Tyler is now a first grader. My mom and I went to Tyler's classroom where we just made it in to see Tyler stand up and receive his diploma. ( for a 5 minute graduation it would have been nice if she hadn't started early.) Anyways the class had a pizza party and everyone took pictures with their friends and signed cute little yearbooks that Mrs. Miller had made each of them. Tyler was very proud of himself.

Happy 50th in Brenham!

The Whatleys — Mon, 17 May 2004 09:52:00 GMT

go to see more pictures of the festivities at this link.

http://jumano.com/blogs/elena/gallery/57.aspx

Happy Day!

The Whatleys — Sun, 09 May 2004 09:57:00 GMT

Happy Mother's day to all the wonderful women out there!!! Please take some time for yourself today and enjoy yourself. Let others shower you with love and kisses and know that you are doing the most important job in the world.

Flowers

The Whatleys — Fri, 07 May 2004 16:46:00 GMT

These are some of the beautiful flowers that are blooming in my yard this

month.

20 pounds

The Whatleys — Tue, 04 May 2004 15:28:00 GMT

Our 7 year anniversary is June 21st and I figure what better way to show my devotion to my wife than to lose 20 pounds by then. That's .42 pounds a day. If it takes approximately 3500 calories to burn a pound of fat then I need to run a 1458 cal deficit every day. 1 hour on the Precor EFX (elliptical trainer) burns around 800 cals so thats 1 hour and 50 minutes each day IF I only consume enough food to meet my base metabolic rate (which according to exrx.net is 2464 cals) Wow.....damn....what have I gotten myself into?

Haircut

The Whatleys — Tue, 04 May 2004 09:48:00 GMT

I cut my hair this past Friday for the first time in I think a year...maybe more. I was expecting at least 4 inches to go but I ended up leaving about 8 inches on the floor. Maybe more if you count the layering. Anyways I have shoulder length hair which is a huge shock to me. I think it looks good though, it's certainly healthier. I'm still adjusting so be kind if you see me. Why are so many of us so obsessed with our hair?

Spring has sprung

The Whatleys — Mon, 26 Apr 2004 16:48:00 GMT

Isn't spring just beautiful!