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.

halloween 2010

oh... halloween. not my favorite of holidays. lots of people love it, like my husband. again, me... not so much. you know, it would be so much better without the scary stuff. why can't it just be dress up. why's it gotta be creepy? really, i don't need demon masks. my imagination is creative enough... i don't need the help. but, we go anyway.

i'm sure everyone else goes through the same drama-filled costume selection that we did this year. this was the first time that gracie really cared what she was. not cale. he just wanted to be a pirate... again. you'll see. he looks a lot like the pirate from last year. only this time, he's a little more, um... "healthy"... costume was a little snug. ok, a lot snug on top. and buggie had no clue. she was more interested in anything other than being snow white. i went as a mom. clever, right?

before heading out, i wanted a picture of all three of them. this was as good as it got...

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.

it took 3 tries to get a family picture. goodness gracious. thank you aunt b and lulu (and big dad, of course) for being so patient. and for herding the circus. and for letting us invade your house.

we'll do it again next year. yea.

gracie's trunk-or-treat

today was "trunk or treat" for gracie and the entire kindergarten. the "trunk" part of trunk-or-treat was that parents decorated their cars and were there to hand out candy to the preschoolers and kindergarteners. i originally volunteered my trunk until i realized that cale and lily would be with me...

can you imagine? me, neither.

so, i my trunk and i resigned. maybe next year.

the deal was everyone was supposed to dress up in their halloween costume, bring their goodie bags, and a good attitude ready for lots of fun and an entire morning of candy acquisition.

gracie ready, in costume... check. manually applied kitty cat nose and whiskers... check. pumpkin bucket... check. good attitude... hold on. what happened to the giddiness? it was all fine while we were getting ready. so fine, that while gracie was meowing and laughing hysterically, mollie watched her in the bathroom mirror and proceeded to growl and bark at her. it was really funny. then, when daddy said it was time to go, she starts crying about her cat nose. she doesn't want it... she doesn't want to trunk-or-treat... she doesn't even want to go to school. really? what the heck? so, we spend the next few minutes discussing why she should have a good attitude and enjoy the fun things that are in store for her today. she can't spend her whole life acting like this. she'll never do anything fun. she'll shut down exciting adventures before they even begin. you get the idea.

as they're headed out the door, i make her stop for a picture...

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!

i've got nothin'...

tonight, there are no pictures of my darling children or hysterical stories to tell. because tonight, they were not cute, and they were not funny. all i'm sayin' is that tonight was one of "those" nights. that is all.

lily's re-bath

hello, stranger. i know it's been a while (again), and i'm sorry. we've had d-r-a-m-a recently, and i've just not been in the blogging mood. but, now i am. tonight i'll keep it short. let's get started...

ok, let me set up the situation tonight: i was doing laundry and kyle was bathing gracie. cale and lily had already had baths before dinner. all of the sudden, kyle hollered at me to come see what was going on in the bathroom. this is what i found...

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.

a monkey dinner

sometimes, i can be a little controlling. i know, you're shocked. really shocked. now's the time to pick up your jaw off the floor. some of you are shocked at the notion that i could be the least bit controlling, while others (ok, all of you) are in awe that i've actually just admitted it. whatever the case may be, letting go is a challenge, especially when it comes to my kids. one thing they love to do is cook. it's very hard for me to let them just do what they can and make a mess. but, again, they l-o-v-e it! so, tonight i had an idea... i let the kids make dinner.

it was very easy to put together, dump and stir.

then, it was stir and dump.

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...

ahhhh, the magic blankie

the magic blankie. lily's snuggie and (sometimes) my sanity. sleep does not exist without the magic blankie. my sweet friend, sarah, who has a little boy two days older than lily, gave it to us. thank you, sarah, from the bottom of my heart. really, i mean thank you. she dropped it off after church one sunday when lily was very little and having a hard time getting her emotions under control. and, by that i mean fussy... very fussy! sarah said she'd found a magic blankie for seth. before i could get to target that afternoon, she showed up at my house with one. now we have two. and we love them. i should really get a couple more. it would be devastating... really devastating if target didn't carry them anymore. hmmm... what time is it? maybe i should go now... oh well, they're closed. tomorrow. anyway, how cute is that picture? she's like gracie... they take such great pictures.

hold on... cale's up. i'm back. ok, now how can i get very mad at him when he gets up and asks me to pray for his tummy, cause it hurts? wait... here he comes again. now it's his leg. ok, so now we've prayed over his whole body. in a minute, we're gonna need to pray for his bottom...

did i mention that we l-o-v-e the magic blankie. just ask anyone who's had to put her to sleep. it's magic. when i think about the magic blankie, i always sing "magic" in my head. sorry... t-m-i.

by the way, the apple pie... it's still really good!!!

it's sunday, fall is in the air, and i'm in the mood for comfort food!

i've got something very exciting... my first apple pie (that i made). actually it was more like apple crisp pie... you know i can't leave any recipe alone. and before you assume i did, just know that there's no almond extract in it. yes, i know, it's almost impossible for me to make something that i don't put almond extract in, but not this time. however, there's always next time...

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.

where do chickens come from?

sometimes on our drive home, we discuss what's for dinner. tonight was one of those nights. gracie's vote, seconded by cale, was chicken nuggets. great. easy for me. i start throwing a meal together in my head. some chicken nuggets, green beans, and maybe some applesauce. then gracie says "mom, what are chicken nuggets made of?"... i say "chicken". that wasn't good enough for her. oh, no. on we go... "but what kind of chicken?"... "the kind that run around and say cluck, cluck, cluck"... "well, where do those chickens come from?"... "eggs"... "where do eggs come from?"... so i launch into the whole thing about hens and laying eggs. finally, the answer was good enough. but, not for me. i thought it would be fun to have daddy join in the conversation, since they usually ask me these kinds of things... no, not such a good idea. i really should stop over thinking things, because...

when daddy got home, i said "hey gracie, ask daddy about the chicken and eggs". she did. he gave me quite a look, then tells her the same story i did... until the part about where eggs come from. instead of the clean version i gave her about hen's laying eggs, he tells her they poop them (at this point, he gets the look from me). really? must we give her that kind of information at 5? really? they poop them? come on. gracie, on the other hand, thinks it's funny. of course, she does. anything about poop when you're 5 is funny. anyway, they then continue the discussion about the yolk, baby chicks forming inside the egg, and getting the eggs from the hens before they start forming chicks. at this point, i kind of tuned them out. bad idea. i rejoin the conversation just as gracie says, "ok, now that's just gross!"... and then she left the table. i probably don't even want to know what he told her.

earlier, i thought it would be funny to get daddy in on the conversation. remind me not to think so much.

a saturday morning makeover

yesterday morning i awoke to a sweet voice requesting my presence in the living room for a makeover. i peeked one eye open to see how many little people would be making me over, and i saw just one. then i realized... it's too quiet. so, out of bed and to the living room we go.

this is the face that goes with the sweet voice who wanted to "makeover" my hair...

and this is her pirate assistant who popped out of the shadows... with the spray bottle. everything in the living room wound up wet. everything.

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!

ahhh, friday.

i love fridays. i mean, i really love fridays. i've been so looking forward to today, all week. i thought it was gonna rain and i was planning on snuggling on the couch with a cup of tea and my new book. sounds heavenly, right? bad news... it didn't rain. it was too warm for a cup of tea. and, my bookmark is still in the same place it was yesterday. so with 5 whole hours to myself, what did i do? i ate breakfast without sharing one bite with anyone. i cleaned the kitchen and enjoyed the fact that all the dishes were clean at the same time. i listened to the last message from pastor craig of lifechurch.tv twice... in a row. it was so good. great, actually. i washed and folded several loads of laundry... which, by the way, is never ending at my house. i mean never. i do laundry all the time, or at least that's how i feel. maybe it's like that for everyone... not sure. get my husband to help? um, no thank you. kyle's been fired from laundry duty. colorblindness + kid stains = really not good. no, not good at all. and i can't get mad at him, cause he really can't see the stains. so, i'm patiently waiting until my kids can do their own laundry. sorry, back to my day... i picked up toys and stuff, then stuff and toys. and then when the work was over, the fun began...

i pickled and canned okra. after that, my mommy time was over.

and then we took the kids to the homecoming parade. they loved it! i stood there watching the parade, watching my kids, and thinking about how much i love "small" town life.

cale, well he loved the fire trucks... and all the candy.

i so enjoyed just watching them be in awe of the happenings.

they're already ready for the next parade!

busy day... and the finale was dessert at cherryberry. yum, yum, and yum.

now, everyone is in bed, except me.

even the dogs are passed out... and snoring... together. think i'll join them... nite.

the sore loser...

i sat down a little earlier to blog about the pet photo contest (that we didn't win), but all i can think about is porkchop... that's cale for those of you not familiar with just how much he weighs. as i type, he's on his 5th time out of bed... in 20 minutes. why? why me? we go through this every night. he gets out of bed, we put him back in... he gets out of bed, we put him back in... he gets out of bed... you get the picture. wait, i don't hear anything. hold on... still nothing. could it be that he's finally given up? i think so. sweet silence. wait... never mind. the silence has just been broken by the camel (who looks a lot like mollie) drinking 5 gallons before bed. ok, not really 5, but it sure sounds like it.

focus... back to the pet photo contest. so, i know i'm a little biased, but our picture was really cute. see?
i'll even say that it might have not been the cutest picture submitted, but it sure was cuter than the lady with the donkey. yeah, that's right. a lady with a donkey. here's the kicker... the lady with the donkey didn't win. wanna know what did? a black and white cat... in a chair... upside down. who gives a crap about an upside down cat in a chair? i, for one, do not. but apparently a whole bunch of people did. i'll give you the puppy in the tulips, which was cute. and darlene's dog, mojo, with the goggles. it was funny. but a cat in a chair? what the? i'm still slightly emotional about it... i'm sure you cannot tell. and apparently, still sore about it. now you know why i've not discussed it before now. it would have been really ugly... with lots of *&#! and ^@%$!!! what is this world coming to? an upside down cat and a lady with a donkey. whatever.

yes, it's another commute conversation...

while we were driving home from my parents tonight, gracie and cale were taking turns singing songs. cale sang "jesus loves me". then gracie sang "the peanut butter song". then cale sang "jesus loves me". then gracie sang "the tootie-tot song"... don't ask. then cale sang "jesus loves me"... again.

at this point, gracie decides to change things up a bit and busts out all of "1-2 buckle my shoe". cale then adds his own twist to the timeless nursery rhyme. it went a little something like this... "1-2, buckle my shoe. 3-4, pick up sticks. 9-10, a big fat gorilla." gracie, who has little patience for nonsense like this (unless it's her own), tells him she'll help him get it right. "say what i say," she tells him. so, here they go... gracie says "it's 1-2 buckle my shoe". cale follows with "1-2 buckle gracie's shoe".

apparently his listenening ears were on!

the circus goes on safari

a couple of weekends ago, jackie calls on saturday morning and says

"hey, let's take the kids to safari sanctury".
my first thought... it's 100+ freakin' degrees outside... um, no. let's think... it will be hot and humid, with cranky kids, and stinky animals... and did i mention it was hot? and then i stopped myself, and thought "mama, don't be so selfish. they'd love it."

so we did. and they loved it.

there were lions...

and tigers...

and more tigers...

but, no bears... oh, my! sorry to report, there are no pictures of any bears. they didn't want to come out for the paparazzi. too hot, i suppose. can i blame them? no.

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...

and pet the wolf...

but, only cale would hold the snake.

gracie (finally) gathered all her brave bones and fed the camel.

the lemurs... they just hung out.

the kids had a blast!

and for the mamas, it was worth every extra heat index degree over 90!