Merle Fest

I am so, very behind on my blog!  Clay and I went to Merle Fest earlier this month.  It was both of our first times going and we had a blast.  It literally rained from the second we got there until after we left.  We fortunately came prepared and stayed warm and dry except for our feet (even though we both wore boots). 

 We decided that we now like Chatham County Line (pictured below).  They have an old style of singing where they get closer or farther away from the mike or switch positions with each other to get the desired sound.  It was pretty awesome!

 Pictured below is the Avett Brothers!  This was my first time seeing them in concert.  They were really good but I was a tiny bit disappointed that they didn't play my favorite song, Beaches.  They did play a good mix of their old stuff and new though.

Going on Seven

Can you believe that little Alexa is already 6 years old?  I titled this, "Going on Seven," because before I know it, she will be 7!

On Alexa's actual birthday, April 16th, I was lucky enough to be able to bring her cupcakes and juice to her classroom to celebrate.  It was the first time visiting her school and as most elementary schools are, it was super cute.

As I approached her classroom, the birthday girl was standing in the hallway, waiting for me with her little birthday crown on.  She was uber excited!  I walked in and Alexa's teacher said, "Hi, I"m Mrs. Williams!  Thank you for bringing cupcakes!" in a very stereotypical, sing-song, kindergarten teacher kind of way.  It was so funny.  I couldn't help but to think that she probably has to medicate herself to get through the day and still sound that amazingly pleasant and calm.

Several hugs and kisses and embarrassing shows of affection later, I left her class on cloud nine.  I love my sweet Alexa!

Sunday was the birthday party.  Erin hosted the Hello Kitty themed event at a park in K-nap.  Erin bought and made all of these cute decorations.  Unfortunately, the wind was so bad that we could barely get the tablecloths to stay on the tables let alone the hanging decorations.  It was still cute though.  I made Hello Kitty cake pops and Clay was our hot dog/hamburger chef!  Alexa had a ton of fun playing with her little friends and visiting with family.

A confession

Hi.  My name is Megan Bolton and I have never roasted a whole chicken...until tonight!

What can I say?  I am spoiled rotten by having a husband who is practically a gourmet chef.  When a whole chicken is on the menu, I am the sous chef, chopping and assisting.  Now that Clay is in school and finals are approaching, I am proud to say that I have been cooking up a storm.  I finally decided to tackle a roasted chicken.

I chose an easy recipe for rosemary chicken on Pinterest and got to work.  The only thing that I could not bring myself to do was remove the giblets!  EW!  I intended to...but took one look and knew that Clay was better suited for the job.  They weren't even in a bag like a turkey!

So I took the chicken out after the recommended time, stuck the thermometer in and it shot up to about 200 degrees!  Chicken is only supposed to get to 165.  (My oven always overcooks stuff...I am usually good about preventing this)  So, I prefaced Clay's chicken carving by saying that it might be a little dry.  I made a joke as he cut into it that it might go, "poofffff," like the Christmas Vacation Turkey.  Watch the first 35 seconds of this video to see what I'm taking about...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spmqbs8YCW8

Anyway, Clay cut the chicken up...it was a bit more difficult to get the legs off and find a peace of breast meat, but nothing was said about it.  We ate and it was a little dry but still yummy.  Then I went back and was poking around the chicken carcase and said, "I found the breast!"  I had cooked the stinkin chicken upside down!!!!  The breasts were on the bottom!  Come to find out, Clay had been thinking the whole time that I had overcooked it so much that I had cooked the breasts away like the Christmas Vaca turkey!!!  He didn't want to say anything because he didn't want to make me feel bad :)

Needless to say, I will not be making that mistake again.  At least I know that my husband loves me enough not to criticize my ignorant ways :)