Sebastian's 2nd Birthday

This cuteness is my nephew, Sebastian! Isn't he adorable? His cute-ness level just went up a billion when he got glasses a few months ago. Is there anything cuter than a toddler in glasses?! He's already broken several pair but is getting used to them and doing great. Sebastian turned two in September and we were so excited to help celebrate his birthday! He's obsessed with Mickey Mouse so my sister's grandparents made him an adorable Mickey Mouse cake. We got some fun bunting, plates and napkins and called it a party! Chara was a diligent cupcake watcher, making sure no one dropped one. She's very helpful. We had friends and family over to my parent's house to celebrate. For lunch, everyone brought a dish and we noshed on BBQ and the some Texas sides like potato salad and Mac and Cheese.  After lunch, we lit Sebastian's birthday candle to sing Happy Birthday. He was so cute, dancing to the song and clapping! It was a great day to celebrate this sweet boy.  We love you Sebastian!

We Have A Chef in the Family!

  My sister in law Lauren graduated form Cooking School a few months ago. Okay, like 6 months ago. Yes, I know. I'm always behind in blogging. Anyways, part of her last semester was holding a restaurant, which meant that she was Executive Chef of the kitchen that day. She worked hard for weeks researching & planning her menu. We were thrilled to be invited & went up to Waco for lunch at her restaurant.

We were, of course, super exited to find out that she choose a Chinese inspired menu. On the menu was ginger soup, pear salad, Sichuan style cold mixed noodles, southern Chinese pepper steak, wanton Napoleon & dim sum, among other things.   We joined Lauren's family & Jacob, my brother, for lunch. Our servers were other culinary students in their 1st year of cooking school. Green Onion Cakes: Unleavened fried scallion bread served with a chili-garlic dipping sauce.   Our appetizer consisted of fried Chinese style bread with a yummy dipping sauce.    While waiting for our food we had to snap some selfies. :) Ginger Soup: Classic chicken consomme with a brunoise of ginger & onions along with lozenge carrots.    Our first course was some delicious soup with a subtle ginger flavor. It was very Chinese in that it had subtle flavors & let the chicken stock do the talking.  Pear Salad: A chilled mix of half-moon cucumbers, medium-diced carrots and a chiffonade of cabbage, tossed in a sesame oil pear dressing. Garnished with toasted black sesame seeds & a scallion blossom.   Second course was a crisp & fresh pear salad with cucumbers, celery, green onion & carrots. Topped with white & black sesame seeds. It was another very Chinese dish with the Asian pears & fresh veggies. 
For the main course, we ordered all three choices because your sister in law only graduates culinary school once & we wanted to try all of her creations!   Southern Chinese Pepper Steak: A spicy pepper steak made with USDA Choice Tenderloin presented over Szechuan green beans, a bed of white rice & braised mushrooms.    First up was delicious a rendition of Chinese pepper steak. It was served with white rice & an ammmazing spicy green beans & mushroom mixture on the side. That side was by far my favorite of the whole menu. I'm a sucker for spicy Chinese green beans & mushrooms. It's always my favorite. Fu Xi's Plate: Traditional steamed pork buns, chicken & chive phoenix eye & Shanghai shrimp served with a spicy sake sauce and rainbow kale slaw.  
Next, up we got Fu Xi's plate, which consisted of various dim soup & a kale side salad. It was pretty tasty. We're suckers for dumplings any time.   Sichuan style cold mixed noodles: Star anise poached chicken breast & julienned red bell peppers fanned over glass noodles with fresh mung bean sprouts, small diced onions & snow peas, tossed with peanut dressing & garnished with bias green onion.     Last, on the main course front, we got the Sichuan style cold noodles & chicken. I really enjoyed this dish. I loved, loved the peanut oil the noodles were tossed in. I also really enjoyed the bean sprout salad side.    WantonNapoleon: Deep fried wantons coated with powdered sugar, layered with vanilla bean pastry cream & fresh berries over a raspberry coulis.  
For dessert, Lauren served a delicate wanton Napoleon. It was light & yummy.    We had a great time & were so happy to be able to be there to support Lauren!  We're so proud of you sister!! 

In Summerrrrrr!

Can you guys believe it's July already? Holy moly the year is flying by. Before we know it Fall will be here! But, before it does, can I just say, that I'm loving summer. I've said in a million in one posts that I don't like summer. But by golly, yes, I just said that, I'm really enjoying summer this year! And I say this while sitting outside on a porch in a rocking chair (maybe that's why I like summer, sounds pretty awesome, right?!). Texas summers have not been the dread & gloom I remembered & worked them up to be. They've been nice, refreshing & obviously, sunny but sunny in a good way. Sunny in the, "I want to smile & praise God I'm alive!" kind of way. Anyways, that's all this post is about, is just to say I like summer now, I think. :) I'm not going to go all Olaf about it (haha, get it?) but I like it. Also, I'll post some photos of our time with my brother, Jacob & his fiance, Lauren. In the words of my itty, bitty sister, "yippee, kai yaa!" We went to Waco's one of two cool coffee shops, Dichotomy. But it's like really cool. I dig it. Then we took girl-dog & Sierra, Jake & Lauren's pup, to the little dog park in their apartment complex. Chara was salivating like a rabid thing & got gross-ness all over her head. We played in the swings, while Lauren did the hard work, throwing toys to the dogs.
And that's all folks. Also, I miss you blog. I think I'll start coming around again.
Happy Summer Readers.

Daddy Mosby's Birthday Weekend

This year we are so excited to be home for our close friends and families' birthdays! We were so happy to celebrate Zachary's fathers' 56th birthday this year! The last birthday we celebrated in person with him was his 51st! Geesh, that's way too long ago, right?! Dallas had some snow this March (his birthday month) so we had a nice white birthday for him. :) I loved that. :) For his birthday we got him a beginner bow & a target. Zachary was so excited to give it to him, he gave it to him the morning of his birthday instead of waiting until that night like everyone else did. haha. Like a little kid!
It made for a fun birthday day & gave them something to do together, though. The guys played over and over and over & got pretty good! Chara-girl and Abby (Zachary's childhood dog) loved being outside with the boys but we had to stop them from chasing the arrows!For his birthday dinner we went to Abuelo's in Arlington. It was delicious & a beautiful restaurant. This was ammmmmazing. I want it right now.

Enchiladas De Cozumel: Delicate crepes filled with fresh guacamole, covered in a white wine sauce with seasoned shrimp, sea scallops, mushrooms, fresh spinach and roasted peppers.By the end of dinner the snow was melting. Noooo!
We went back to the house to open presents & enjoy the delicious cake Brittany made.

In the Mosby house birthdays are a big deal. They go all out, as you can see.
No shirts, a cozy blanket, a watch, fishing gear, the present list goes on and on. Besides for his bow & arrow, we also got him a Yeti cup. My brother and future sister in law rave about these things! They say they keep things hot or cold for 12 hours plus.
We also got him a bomb. Basically. Well an exploding target. My brother works at the Academy where we bought Zachary's dad's gifts and he insisted that we buy him on of these. I'm not gonna lie, I want to be there when they shoot it!After the candles were blown out, the cake was had & the presents were opened Zachary had a "surprise" planned for his daddy. Egg Roulette! And Water War. He got both ideas from the Jimmy Fallon show.

To prepare for Egg Roulette you take a dozen eggs and boil 8 of them, leaving 4 raw. After they cool down you can play Egg Roulette. Basically, you take turns choosing an egg and cracking it over your head. It produces tons of hilarity. Lots of raw egg all over & lots of suspense. 

To prepare for water war you get a deck of cards, 8 cups of water & a bucket of water. You play war (the card game), the loser getting a cup of ice water thrown on them. Whoever uses up all their cups of waters first gets the bucket thrown on them. Again, lots of laughing & man squeels.

Both games were hilarious to watch. Overall I think Steve had a great birthday. We were so thankful to be there, too! Love you Dad!