black friday recap

it's the day after thanksgiving. some hate it, some avoid it, but plenty ... i love this day of the year. it's like an official start of the christmas season for me. normally, i am not a shopper, but on black friday it all changes. i've only been a b.f.s. (black friday shopper) since i've had kiddos. you know, big discounts on the toys they "need". i'm always up for a good bargain. so today, like many of my days, began with little... very little... sleep, a cup of coffee, and lots of adrenaline. at 4:10 am i picked up jackie and at 4:25 we were in line at wal-mart... "helping santa". the sad part was that i was late. most people had been there for hours. some since 8:30 thanksgiving night. i'm dedicated, but not that dedicated. although, since i wasn't sleeping, i probably should have been there. anyway, i got what i went for and then it was off to the next store... and the next... and the next... and the next... occasionally interrupted by phone calls from gracie who was desperate to put up and decorate the tree. "go ahead" i said. "NO!", replied daddy. jackie and I made it 8 hours. i'm as astounded that we made it 8 hours without kids as i am that we just made it 8 hours. do you know how long it's been since jackie and i spent an entire 8 hours together without kids? me neither. back to shopping... i'm sure our measly 8 hours is nothing compared to some b.f.s., but by noon we were done. and by done, i mean tired. really tired.

i napped for a bit, and then we got busy at "the ranch"...

today, gracie officially learned to ride her bike without training wheels.

isn't it pretty? you should see it from the road.

we finished decorating the tree... after a trip to wal-mart for lights that actually work. there is something about lights and our family that don't go together. every year i think we have to buy new lights. i don't get it. some work and some don't. and yes, we changed out the individual bulbs and the fuses. still didn't work. lights should last more than one season. you know, when i was little, things were made a little more sturdy. ok, a lot more sturdy. and a string of lights didn't cost $10.00. blah, blah, blah...

oh, and the elf showed up for the second year. his name is jack. he is our "elf on the shelf". we've been talking about him for weeks, hoping he'd come again on thanksgiving night. he stays with us until christmas eve. each night he goes back to the north pole to report on how the kids have behaved that day. they love it. it's pretty neat. gracie and cale called while i was shopping to tell me he came to our house last night. they were so excited! it's a race in the mornings to see who can find jack first. and, grace is convinced that me moves a little each time she looks at him. somehow, sis, i don't think so. i wonder where he'll be in the morning...

i think i'll go pour myself a sip of wine, put my feet up, and enjoy my tree... nite.

mmm... pecan pie

you know what i love about thanksgiving? food. i've still got 15 hours until it's time to eat, and my mouth is already watering. my job this year was "the fixin's". everything between the turkey and the rolls is up to me. and i love it. ok, so i'm a little nervous about the stuffing, but i'm sure mama has some stovetop in the pantry, just in case.

what i'm really excited about is the pecan pie i just made. oh... my... gooooooddddnnesssss!

the crust...

the filling...

the finished product.

(in my new pie plate... that i'm in love with!)

all modesty aside, i'm pretty proud of myself. i love to conquer new dishes... or "staples" that i've never tried before. i sure hope this pie turns out to be as good as it smells and looks.

i'll let you know tomorrow.

oatmeal chocolate chip...

when i walked in the door tonight, my nose was met with a scrumptious scent. a smell that only comes from something yummy baking in the oven... or one of those yummy candles that make you want to eat every time you light it. what i found was my sweet hubby slaving in the kitchen over some cookies. oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, to be exact. or, at least that's what he claimed they were. the dough (and i use that term loosely) wasn't right. it smelled and even tasted just like it should. the problem was that it was more like, um... batter. when the "cookies" came out of the oven, they resembled something more along the lines of a pancake. and they were no longer individual cookies, but more like one large, but very thin pancake... maybe even a little more crepe-ish. ok, honestly, they would have really been like crepes if he hadn't put oatmeal in the batter. oops, I mean dough. see what i mean...


now, please don't misunderstand this blog. i am not... really, i am not... bashing my husbands baking skills. he can make cookies. yummy cookies... and really yummy eggs! and, these cookies were really good. maybe they bent slowly to the left when i picked them up, but they still tasted good. so, my point is... what happened? he said he followed the directions... any ideas? i've not a clue...

scaling the coffee table

lily-bug has discovered she can climb up onto the coffee table...

i give you exhibit a:

once up there, she giggled loudly and yelled "mama"... as if i wasn't paying attention. now, i give you exhibit b:

she was so very proud of herself. she would climb up, daddy would get her down... she would climb up, daddy would get her down... you get the idea. ironically, this morning's message at church was about climbing your mountain...

i don't even know what to title this one...

here was the scene at our house a couple of nights ago:

it was bedtime. ahhh... sweet bedtime. and at our house, bedtime (or anytime relatively close to it) means we start winding down, getting quiet, and maybe picking out a book to read. i had just bathed all the kiddos and both girls were in their jammies. cale, on the other hand, was being particularly difficult about getting dressed. surprise, surprise. i'd been following him around with the clothes, but i got sidetracked picking up toys... and books... and laundry... and toys... and then cleaning up cale and lily's room. meanwhile, daddy... in the spirit of bedtime and winding down time... turns on some music. awww... sweet, right? wrong. what he turned on was a fantastic praise & worship song by jesus culture. now, don't get me wrong, i l-o-v-e that song. so do my children. but it's not what "calms" them. the next thing i know, gracie is dancing on my bed, lily is doing fist-pumps in the air (which, by the way, you must see), and cale... who is still naked... is using his "junk" as a guitar (which no one needs to see). that boy will us whatever he can get his hands on (literally) to "play" music. do you think slash ever did something like this? wait, don't ans-ver that...

deep thoughts...

here are my "randoms" for the day...

1. at the top of my blog page is a "next blog" button. have you ever clicked it? well, i did. in case you're wondering what it takes you to, let me enlighten you... you never know. yep, that's right. there's no rhyme or reason, no certain order, or classification system to what comes next. there might be a really cute blog by a really creative person... or a funny by a crazy mama (no comments from the peanut gallery!)... or a practical blog offering blogging advice... or a practical blog offering recipes and cooking advice. there are lots of really neat blogs out there. however, amongst the fun, cute, practical blogs there will (out of nowhere) be a freaky blog. who knew freaky people blogged. ok, i'm sure you did, but i did not. i don't get out much. anyway, freaky people blog about some really freaky things. freaks! i'm really not being judgements, just calling it like i see it. i think i'll stick with the funny and cutesy blogs, thank you.

2. boys and/or men should never... e-v-e-r... ever run in white running shorts. honestly, who thought that was a good idea? let me tell you that a good idea, it is not. never, ever.

3. ever wonder what happens when spaghetti attacks... or it is attacked...


yep, that's lily. and that's what happens when lily and spaghetti get together. no, the spaghetti didn't win. i'm pretty sure at some point she was licking her plate. you know, if we gave her white eyebrows and a green/white striped shirt, she could pass for an oompa loompa! surely she'd be the cutest little oompa loompa willy ever had!

sunday morning cinnamon rolls

when i was cleaning up the kitchen last night (at 11:30), i was seriously questioning my sanity for even suggesting to gracie that we make cinnamon rolls. it was 8:30... p.m... when i got that bright idea. you know that i love to bake just about as much as anyone, but starting cinnamon rolls at 8:30-ish at night... yes, even i will admit it wasn't so smart.

i got out all the ingredients, started a couple of different stations... one for the mixer, one for the what needed to be microwaved, and then the yeast. here's where we ran into a problem. what i knew was the yeast wasn't "doin' it's thang"... and what i didn't know was that it was expired. all 5 packages. lovely. just what i need at 9:15 pm when we are already up to our elbows in flour. we went through 3 packages of yeast before finding one that "sort of" worked. oh, by the way, gracie kept stopping to run to the living room to watch the cop show that was on.

so anyway, we finally got the dough made and then i took a little nap while it was rising the first time. after rolling out the dough, adding the filling, and then cutting the cinnamon rolls, gracie wanted to play in the left-over dough. it was 11:00. so, what did i do? got her the cookie cutters. she had so much fun. after rolling and cutting, and cutting and rolling her little ball of dough, she decided she wanted to make some cinnamon rolls out of what she'd been playing with. so we did. they were cute "mini-cini's".

when i got up this morning, i was so hoping hers had risen. i wasn't sure hers would do anything with all that she'd messed with the dough. and honestly, i was hoping and praying mine had too. they did. all of them. so we baked, then we tasted. the verdict... they were yummy. really yummy. then i decided that the 3 hours last night had so been worth it... mostly for the special time with gracie.

(this was the 2nd pan. the little one in the corner was the last of gracie's mini-cini. sorry, i forgot to take a picture before we attacked them!)

i was gonna...

i was gonna blog earlier, but then gracie and i decided to make cinnamon rolls for tomorrow morning. we've been discussing doing this for weeks, but just haven't taken the time to do it. so, tonight we did. tomorrow there will be pictures! and they will be y-u-m-m-y... yea for cinnamon rolls!!!

gracie's at it again...

have you ever wondered what would happen if dorothy and the good witch merged into one character? or if they had a head-on collision in mid-air and melded together? me neither... until a couple of nights ago.

gracie and cale were playing "quietly" in her room (it goes downhill from here). when all of the sudden, she dramatically emerges (i don't have a clue where she gets that...) and announces the presence of "the pretty fairy princess"...

poor cale. one day he will realize what's happening and not be such a willing participant. but, for now, he just goes along with it. and, most of the time, daddy just shakes his head and walks away from the scene.

i know you're thinking "why can't gracie play dress up with lily?" good idea, but no. let me tell you why. i'm figuring out that it's cause lily is a lot like gracie... extremely independent and opinionated. i thought she was going to be the quiet, laid back one. after the last couple of weeks, i'm not so sure. if it's not what she wants to do, then look out. an all out fit ensues. apparently she doesn't know who she's messin' with. i've ridden in this rodeo before... twice. i'm experienced and i'm not backing down! i know this sounds a lot like a pep talk for myself... cause it is.

anyway, back to the "situation"... sometimes i'm not sure whether to laugh at what gracie has done to cale, or be concerned. like i said last time she did this... someday she'll learn.