It's Lent!

It's been a crazy two weeks and so I haven't been keeping up as well with this. The day after Abby's birthday, we all came down with the swine flu. NO FUN! It was so horrible. I laid in bed for almost two straight days after that and thankfully my sister in law and mother in law were able to pick up my slack with the children, because once Jamie got it, both of us were just pitiful and helpless! So glad that is behind me! After we recovered from that, we had to attend the funeral of my niece. :( My sister, Hilary, went into preterm labor and delivered Konan at 25 weeks. She fought hard for two days and then God took her back home with him, to be an angel - I know. I won't go into detail of her two days on this earth, because that wound is still fresh and raw, and it is a sad story.

My dad came to live with us this past Sunday, he has been planning to for a while - he's going to stay a while and work at the Liquor store because we've had sooo many problems up there since the late firing of our last manager who we realized too late was doing an AWFUL job, and being dishonest. Sooo, now my dad is there and it's nice to have someone there we know we can trust.

Now, here it is Lent already! It seems the year is already just flying by! Abby asked me on Wednesday what I planned to give up, as she struggled herself to figure out what she should sacrifice until Easter....which to a 7 year old might as well be a lifetime! Abby decided to give up all potato chips for Lent, and I thought that was a good choice. I have a hard time with things to give up, because I'm super forgetful and absentminded a lot of the time. So, I decided that I will make up every bed in the house every single day until Lent. Many of you may already do that, and I think that's great - I'm ashamed that I do not, but I've never been in the practice of doing it! It just gets messed right back up again, and no one ever sees it. But, as I make the beds up in the rooms, I consciously think about the sacrifice that was made and the reason that we observe Lent. It seems to work better for me then giving something up, because I tend to view it with resentment (chocolate! caffeine! fast food! - think about it!).

And since this is the first Friday of Lent - I am making Crawfish Bisque! I got this recipe from my friend Leslie Rigby and it is a favorite amongst my family. Everyone always loves it and it's a dish that I usually cook for company so they feel super welcomed! It is ridiculously easy to make, but ssshhhhh, don't tell anyone! Especially my brother-in-law Wesley. As he thinks it's super gourmet...

Crawfish Bisque

1 tbsp butter

green onions

1 pt half and half

2 to 3 cans of cream of potato

1 can cream of mushroom

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

1 to 2 cans whole kernel sweet corn

1/2 to 1 pound of frozen crawfish tails (cooked, deveined)

(I use Beaudreaux's and I do not thaw it before I throw it in the pot)

capful (1/2 tbsp or so) of crab boil seasoning

1. Saute 2 to 3 "stalks" of green onions. You can use more or less if you like, but you gotta use them.

2. Turn pot on low and put in cream cheese, half and half, and potato and mushroom soups (undiluted). Stir this all up and let the cream cheese melt but don't let it boil.

3. Last, throw in the crawfish tails and the corn. After the

crawfish tails have warmed and mixed in with the soup, add about a capful of crab boil seasoning (less if you don't want it spicy, more if you like spice - and you can use cayenne pepper to taste if you don't have crab boil).

Bon Appetite!!!!