i napped for a bit, and then we got busy at "the ranch"...
today, gracie officially learned to ride her bike without training wheels.
i think i'll go pour myself a sip of wine, put my feet up, and enjoy my tree... nite.
~~ where everyday is a new adventure ~~
today, gracie officially learned to ride her bike without training wheels.
(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!)
really? 2 seconds. that's all i'm asking. is that too much? i just want one picture of everyone together... looking at the camera... smiling. just one. no? whatever. lets go.
however, thanks to lulu, we got great individual pics of them. dang, my kids are cute.
arrrr, matey. it's pork chop... the most feared pirate in rogers county.
awww... what a cute kitty. it's rather appropriate, considering her independent streak (that of which i know nothing of...).
before heading out into the dark and scary abyss (ok, not really) of aunt b's neighborhood, we had to have a test run...
looks like it went rather well. she must have passed.
lily even joined in on the action. if it wasn't what she wanted, she threw it on the ground. she was rather opinionated...
and couldn't wait to taste test.
there were lots of cute decorations. besides my kids, of course.
ok, i have to say i'm very surprised that there was any candy left in these bowls. no one was manning them. the big kids must not have found them yet.
what a cute kitty cat she makes. this is the only cat that will ever live at my house.
so, this afternoon i am soooo excited to pick her up and hear all about her trunk-or-treat experience. she gets in the car and and i ask how trunk-or-treat was. gracie's response... "mom, this morning when we went out there, i thought i am totally going to have so much fun at this. my mom was so right".
it would serve her well to remember that. she is one smart cookie!
lily... in her jammies and diaper. a 6 pound diaper. it was lovely. she thought it was hysterical. this give "re-bath" a whole new meaning.
at our house, it's always something.
it was very easy to put together, dump and stir.
casserole was in the pan. now, shakey, shakey, shakey... shake those onions on top.
yum. their finished dinner casserole. what's better than chicken with french fried onions? they loved it!
aren't those the cutest chefs you've ever seen? they fixed such a great dinner! i'm so proud of them for cooperating and making our meal. and, i'm proud of myself for just letting it go and allowing them to do it their way.
by the way, there happened to not be an questions about where the chicken, cream of chicken, french fried onions, tomato soup, or corn came from. what? no questions about our food? they must've been concentrating on the stir and dump...
the from-scratch pie crust. kyle insisted it was store bought, even saying it looked too good to be from scratch. was that a compliment? it could have been, minus the dripping sarcasm. so, i smiled sweetly, and then told him to get out of the kitchen.
the filling... apples, sugar, butter...
and, the finished product. y-u-m-m-y! really yummy!
so, dessert was done. on to dinner.
tonight's menu:
chicken fried chicken with gra-vy
garlic mashed potatoes
brown sugar glazed carrots
dinner was great, even though gracie emphatically claimed that she was allergic to carrots and i burned the *#^% out of my thumb. hot grease. not fun. i wouldn't recommend trying it. it hurts very badly. yes mama, i slathered it in arnica... its not helping. gracie prayed for God to heal my thumb when it was time for prayers. so sweet. well, it's been nice, but now my thumb is off to an ice cube bath. later.
this is the face that goes with the sweet voice who wanted to "makeover" my hair...
after much brushing, pulling, and whining... this was the finished product. i wore my hair just like that all morning, until it was time to shower. stop laughing... seriously. stop. now.
and this, well, this was the sunset at the ranch last night. gorgeous, huh? what's so amazing to me is knowing that God made those beautiful sunsets just for us! enjoy!
i pickled and canned okra. after that, my mommy time was over.
and then there was this cat. not sure what kind of a cat, other than a very cranky one. every time jackie would rattle the treat bag, he made this mean face. and along with the mean face, there was a very mean hiss. the "cat keeper" said it was just his way of communicating. communicating what? that he was pissed? sure looks that way. (this is where my mother would interject that ladies and gentlement, who don't say suck, also don't say pissed... and that she taught me better than that. she did. however, sometimes i like to buck the system.)
everyone got to feed the birds...
gracie (finally) gathered all her brave bones and fed the camel.
the lemurs... they just hung out.
and for the mamas, it was worth every extra heat index degree over 90!