Kids Autumn Pictures

I took advantage of a beautiful weekend. My family got out early and visited our local botanical gardens. There are some pretty good deals right now on Christmas Photo cards orders through Snapfish that is offering free shipping thru November 30th with this code: CARDJOY. Tiny Prints is offering 20% savings plus free shipping by using this code: JOY121.

 

 If you are interested in seeing more photos, you need to  CLICK HERE!  We ended up spending approximately an hour and half in the Japanese Gardens that we didn't get to walk around to the other gardens.  One of my favorites is the Rose Garden.  CLICK HERE to see more miscellaneous garden photos.  

Enjoy the photos and take advantage of the Christmas card savings! 

Me and My Big Mouth

Katie LOVES Logan's rolls.  She asked to eat there after school yesterday.  I think I was crazy as a bed bug for taking my crazy kids out to eat by myself.  The kids wanted to sit by each other, which is always a bad sign.  I let them, to avoid a bad scene and us leaving without getting to eat.

I guess it could have been worse, Katie and Colton grabbed their crayons and pretended that they were shooting ketchup and mustard at each other.  Colton would not sit down and stay down.  They both got  a little crazy throwing the peanut hulls in the floor.  Ugh!  Needless to say, in the end, I survived.

In one of our conversations, Katie wanted to talk about Halloween.  She asked Colton if he decided what he was going to dress up like.  He came out of the blue and said "Einstein."  Before you all go, WHAT?  This is code for Frankenstein, which is also code for Hulk.  I know, you have to have a language manual with you at all times to figure out what he is talking about.  The problem with this costume selection is we have not be able to find the muscle Hulk costume in Colton's size.  Ugh!  I will keep trying to find it though.  Meanwhile, I began suggesting some of the costumes that he already has in his closet.  I just bought him a muscle Superman costume.  Katie asked me, in front of him, if I could color his hair black like Superman.  Well that got his full attention. "You color my hair black, like Superman?" he asked.  I told him that I could and I could make the little swirl in the front like Superman.  That's all it took.  All the way home and last night, he told me to color his hair right then because he needed it.  Ugh!  I couldn't get him to understand for anything.  Poor baby.  When I got him ready for bed, he asked me "you color my hair like Superman?"  I assured him that I would for Halloween, but of course he doesn't understand that Halloween is a couple of weeks away.  I would have probably colored yesterday, but I plan on taking the kids pictures today for Christmas cards.

Katie has had a loose tooth for sometime.  I didn't want this ugly dangling tooth in our Christmas cards, so I've been begging her to let me pull it.  Nope, she wouldn't have it.  So, I gave her one week to pull it.  She said that she wanted to pull it at school, so she could receive a tooth necklace.  When I picked her up yesterday from school.  Mrs. M was giggling and saying that she has tried really hard all day to pull that tooth.  Mrs. M didn't know the arrangement.  For some reason, Katie doesn't trust me.  I've pulled all three of her first teeth and all three times, she has cried and carried on about "it's going to hurt, I just know it."  Last night was no different.  She tried until after 8PM last night to pull that tooth.  Now it was mama's turn.  Doug got it on tape how crazy she was acting just for me to pull a tooth.  As soon as she let me get ahold of it.  It took one pull and it was gone.  Her eyes were huge once again and began to laugh.  I asked her if it hurt.  "No," she said relieved.  I told her that she's got to work on that trust issue with me.  Well, I know I was glad to get that over with and our Christmas pictures are expected to be pretty.  Katie woke up finding her tooth fairy money under her pillow.  She said that she is going to save her money to buy Novi Star doll.

Hope you have a blessed weekend.       ****** ROLL TIDE!!! ******

A Great Lesson to Learn

While waiting for the dismissal bell to ring, I enjoy watching the children playing on the playground at school. Most of the time, I have the opportunity to see Katie playing with her classmates.

I have to tell you, I am impressed with her classmates. They really work and play as a team. Most other classes, I've seen outside playing, branch out into groups. You have the very obvious cheerleader hopefuls. The sports' fans, practicing their football techniques. The Socials, sitting around catching up on the latest gossip. Then, you have groups that just like playing on the playground equipment. Katie's class seem to really get along and ALL play well with one another. Today, they were playing "Shark." It's where a few kids volunteer to be the sharks and then you have the land lovers. The sharks try and catch the land lovers. Basically, it's like playing tag. Not once did I hear fussing or someone say "I quit." They all seemed to have a very good time. When Katie got in the car, I asked her if they always play that good together. She said "yes." She added that Mrs. M tells them . . .

"Be Polite, not rude. 

Be Nice, not mean. 

We are here to help each other and not hurt one another."

I LOVE IT!  I think it's a philosophy, we could all live by.  What a great lesson my child is learning in school.  

I'm still here.  We are in full force fundraising, so I've been selling, selling, selling.  My three year old is pushing every possible button I might have on my person.  Yes, he literally asks to push my buttons.  When I give him my arm, he pretends to push buttons, as he is telling me "I'm pushing your buttons."  {he is laughing}  Yeah, you don't want to know what I look like right now (hair pulled back, no make-up, stress all over my face)  As my kids would say, I've been Hulking out lately.  I try to remind myself that " . . .  and this too shall pass."  I know one day, I will look back on this time and I will laugh hysterically.  

 

It's All Entertaining

I haven't been able to share these kind of posts with you in a long time. I MISS THAT!  I love these posts from me because I get to sit back and introduce products, bands and other events with you. A time where me and my family are gathered around, sharing new finds. Now, I get to pass that off to you.

As I'm watching Fox and Friends this morning, they introduce a new band. I LOVE classical or instrumental music. I believe music jump starts your joy and what type of music you listen to adjusts your attitude/mood towards your work and life itself. Before I get too deep here, you must watch this video.

Introducing The Piano Guys! They are five dads that came together one day visiting a piano store and later became good friends. Their music was pure and fresh, even with the classics. They are very entertaining to me. The Piano Guys recently received a recording contract, so hopefully you will see more of their faces. You can find more videos on YouTube.

Here is one more video, I felt joy and peace within as I listened. So relaxing. I hope you enjoy it. For more information about this group of guys, please CLICK HERE!

Visiting overseas just for a moment, I'm sure you've at least heard of Psy from Korea.  He's new song "Gangnam Style" is the craze.  Psy is the biggest pop star in Korea right now.  Not understanding Korean, he could be saying some pretty vile things and I wouldn't know it.  The one thing that jumps out as entertaining is to watch Psy demonstrating his dance techniques.  He was a special guest on "The Ellen Show" to help Brittany Spears learn the "Gangnam Style" dance.  Too funny!  Psy did great.  I tried the dance.  I've discovered in order to make the dance successful, act like you are riding a quarter horse from hades and you will have no trouble.  {smiling}

Here is a clip from The Ellen Show when Brittany gets to meet Psy:
 

Before I end this post, let me ask you a question.  Just ponder this question for a minute or two.  Does specific songs played on commercials affect the music video count down?  We watched VH1 Top 20 this morning and two songs in the top 10 were featured on two commercials.  They were
Too Close by Alex Clare (Microsoft Windows Commerical) . . .

br />

and Everybody Talks by Neon Trees (Buick Commerical)


This wet soggy weekend marks our annual Oktoberfest Festival in town.  I don't think will be making it.  The cold front came through a lot earlier than they first thought.  There goes my photo shoot this morning.  Bama's not playing today, so no parties or hollering "ROLL TIDE."  I think it is God's way of saying, "hey, take a break and get some rest."  I think I like that idea.  Thank you for the rain and cold weather Lord.  {heart is smiling}

I have to tell you this one thing.  Last night marked our "Stupid Movie Night."  These are movies that I or Doug wanted to watch, but knew they would be too stupid to waste money going to the movie theater.  It being Autumn, close to Halloween, I enjoy watching thriller movies.  This is really the only time of year that I enjoy watching these type movies.  I've always loved mystery type books and movies.  I guess you could say that I love the "who done it" films.  It really gets my blood pumping good.  Well, I've seen the previews on TV and I finally picked up these two movies from the video store last night.  They were "The Cabin in the Woods" and "Dark Shadows."  I could not stop laughing at either one of them.  They were so STUPID!  Actually, I expected to be a little scared of "Cabin in the Woods."  Then I found out all the thriller parts were staged.  I'm not saying any more about this movie.  Oh. my. gosh!  So ridiculous.  It was nice seeing Chris Hemsworth star in this movie.  He is so adorable.  Knowing Tim Burton directed and Johnny Depp starred in "Dark Shadows," I expected it to be completely ridiculous.  I got exactly what I wanted, STUPID MOVIE.  I had to laugh.  If you like "Stupid Movie Night," I recommend these two movies.  Warning: they are not for everyone in the family - (kids no, no).  

New Restaurant Review

While watching the local news, Doug found out about a new restaurant opening soon in town. City Cafe Diner is a 24 hour, 7 day a week restaurant that opened not too long ago. They are located on Drake Avenue in Huntsville. Very easy to locate, not far from the mall. This restaurant is a chain. Their other locations are Savannah, GA on Abercorn; Savannah, GA; Augusta, GA and in Morrow, GA. Their menu is a book, like The Cheesecake Factory. They specialize in Greek food and their bakery is stocked full of delicious pastries. I had the Greek Chicken with steamed veggies, greek lemon seasoned potatoes. Our waitress was so sweet to bring over cookies for the kids and a dessert for us to try. She accidentally mixed up me and Millard's order and she wanted to make it right. She didn't have to do that, but it shows her professionalism. Doug got a cup of their turkey soup. You talk about delicious. Everything we had there was very good and I would recommend it to anyone. We had so much food leftover, we brought it home for lunch the next day. Yum! Oh and by the way, they serve breakfast all day. I wished they had a website or something to pass along to you, but they don't.

Butterfly, Butterfly, Fly Away Home

While at her grandparents, Katie and her Paw-paw Millard caught a butterfly out in the field

When she got home with it in a jar, we looked it up and discovered that it was is a "Common Buckeye".  It really is pretty and she was so proud of her butterfly.  Being the kid, she wanted to keep it in the jar.  She later realized that it was best for her butterfly to let it go.  It loved my flowers out in my pot. The butterfly stayed there for quite some time.  By morning, it was gone.   

Katie has been in the butterfly kick since she's been taking care of her caterpillar at school.  Each student was assigned a caterpillar.  Katie named her caterpillar Daisy. They all got to witness their caterpillars create their chrysalis'.  Katie's little eyes were so big telling me about her caterpillar turned into a chrysalis.  It took a few weeks before little Daisy finally turned into a butterfly. Mrs. M told the class the butterflies were "Painted Ladies."  

Today was our Butterfly Release Celebration.  Katie volunteered me to make the butterfly cupcakes.  LOL!  I think the kids had a good time.  I found out today, second graders are not shy at all.  Once the students found out that I was Katie's mom, they were very talkative.  A few of the kids asked me to take a picture of their faces with icing all over it.  LOL!  Katie has some characters in her class.  Of course, a lot of boy class clowns.  The little girls were so sweet and lots of help, handing out plates of cupcakes for me to other students.  I love events like this.  I am so in my element.  Of course my husband thinks I'm trying to be a brown noser.  Ugh!  He just doesn't understand.  Teachers are holding the hands of my kids, showing them the way to their futures.  I'm going to be there, watching every step and helping out from time to time.  

Butterfly Wishes

Butterfly, flutterby 
Come to me 
Take me to Mexico 
On your delicate wing.

Butterfly, flutterby
It is early fall
I want to escape from here
To you I call.

Butterfly, flutterby
Be with me tonight
I’ll be ready in a minute
Ready for take-off; ready for flight.

Butterfly, flutterby
How gorgeous your face
Yellow, black, stained-glass wings
I see your mysterious smile and dainty grace.

Butterfly, flutterby
I’m waiting; I’ll stay
Please don’t forget me
But look! Now you’re going, going, gone, away.

Butterfly, flutterby
How can this be?
You said good bye
Now what about me?

Butterfly, flutterby
You could have come to me
Could have taken me to Mexico
On your delicate wing.

Butterfly, flutterby
This is not the end
Return for me next year
I will be waiting and watching, again and again. 

Jennie Scheihing

Close up of the butterfly cupcakes, I made.

My inspiration came from Martha Stewart online.

Kids love Funfetti cake mix, but I don't care for it as much.  Funfetti mix it is!  

I dipped twisted pretzels in blue chocolate candy and then roll them in sprinkles of all kinds.

The head is an M&M; I piped dots of blue colored icing for the body and lastly 

added Twizzler Pull-Apart candy for the antennas.  

As soon as Mrs. M brought out the butterflies in their container, they became excited.  They began fluttering their wings and flying around.  They could have thought "woo, it's cold out here."  It didn't even make it to 70 degrees here today.  Yeah, it was chilly outside.  Mrs. M tried her best to prepare the kids, so they won't scare the butterflies.  Of course, kids are going to get excited and want to touch the butterflies. 

Mrs. M passed out sponges soaked in sugar water and suckers for the kids to try to lure the butterflies to them.  I think most of the suckers only lured the kids to eat them.  

I'm happy to report there were no fatalities (butterflies) or injuries and all the butterflies flew off very satisfied. 

Butterflies get ready for a long journey for the Winter

Painted Lady Butterfly

Katie finally gets to hold a butterfly, with the help of a classmate. It made her day. 

Students sitting around in a circle, enjoying their cupcake and juice box.

 

Brother didn't leave his sissy's side for a minute.

 

Happy 1st Birthday Zayden!

My niece and her husband had all the families over to celebrate their little boy's first birthday.  For it to be his first birthday experience, he came out like a pro.  He was a prince eating his birthday cake and ripped the wrapping paper off of his presents like he knew exactly what he was doing.  LOL!  

A friend of my sister, Kim, made Zayden's birthday t-shirt.  She did such a great job! 

 

Zayden's picture with his loving parents

   

Whitney is finally show her baby bump.  

Zayden's Birthday Theme was (ta-da) Mickey Mouse. 

Whitney did such a great job with the decorations and food.  I don't know all who was involved in the preparations, but I know her sister gave her a hand making the Mickey Mouse cookies below.  

. . . Just Precious!!!!

I applaud her in making Zayden's personal cake.  Love It!!!

We had such a wonderful time during the party.  You couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather to have an outside birthday party.  The place was crawling with kids of all ages, in and out of the house.  One BIG blessed family.  God is Great! 

 

Welcome to PTA!

Yesterday marked my very first PTA meeting.  I know, your probably thinking, your child is in the second grade and your just now joining the PTA?  I knew before she even started school a couple of years ago that I wanted to get involved in PTA, but she would only be at the primary school for two years.  Where she is right now, she'll be there until 6th grade.  What a better time to join than now.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised going into my first meeting.  Our leader, Courtney, is awesome!  She is a lady after my own heart, very organized and bringing old news up to speed with the newbies like myself.  It was very informative and love how school administration is encouraged to attend as well, if possible.  Our principal was present for most of the meeting and addressed the school's needs for us to come up with solutions for this school year.  This group of amazing parents came up with enough funds to purchase every teacher in the school their own iPad this past Spring/Summer.  Our next step is to raise money to purchase the cables that will attach the iPads to their classroom Smart boards.  Another great teaching tool.  Principal D has also requested that PTA help raise funds for a new and safer recess playground.  Katie loves the P.E. playground, but the playground that they play on at recess is pretty sad.  The group has come up with a couple of ideas that I believe will be a good start.

As you know we had our school book fair for the first time at Books-a-million.  It was a great success for both the school and the book store.  We being the first school to hold their book fair at BAM, the manager was very impressed at the success.  He told Courtney that it was the most revenue in one day. Because the book fair went from 3-6PM, approximately 112 students attended.  The numbers are not in yet as to how much money the school received from the fair.  I think there would have been more students, if it wasn't so sloppy outside.  The BAM store manager is excited for possible future book fairs with us and will encourage other area schools to do the same.  Personally, I enjoyed it because you are not limited like you would at the school.  The children were occupied with other friends and listening to stories.

We have a very fun filled school year ahead of us.  We are planning 3 different Spirit Nights with Chick-Fil-A this year.  A PJ Day for the students, which the children LOVE!  Our festival night will be like a carnival at the school for kids.  Parents buy the tickets for the students and their siblings.  The children will go from classroom to classroom, playing games and winning prizes.  Sounds like a lot of fun.  Right now, we are getting ready for the students to sell "Mixed Bag Designs."

Aren't these bags cute?  They are made from partially recycled polywoven plastic.  I've seen totes like these around.  They look like they've been made from decorative duc tape.  LOL!  At the meeting, one mom brought her Mixed Bag Design tote and she swears by it.  She said her son spilled his apple juice inside it.  All she had to do was just wipe it clean.  Most totes/purses are ruined after having juice spilled inside it.  I skimmed through the catalog online and they have a lot more to offer than totes.  You'll have to check it out CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE.   Teachers will be passing out the order form and catalogs to students next week.  The orders will be collected by October 12th.  

Attention relatives: if you would like to take the opportunity to order something from this company, let me know.  Thanks ;)

Oh and I'm so excited that we will be doing the "Display My Art" again this year!  Last year was the first time our school system got involved in this company.  Do you remember THIS ARTWORK from Katie last Spring?  I just LOVE my Zebra on our refrigerator.  I can't help but smile every time I see it and think of my baby girl.  This year, their art teacher will be helping the students create self portraits of themselves.  Hopefully, these order forms will be ready to pass out to the students by next week as well.  We want to get the orders sent back to the company in enough time for the parents to have their order by Christmas.  I and another parent couldn't speak more fondly about this idea and our experiences last year.  For more information about this fundraiser, CLICK HERE.  

Thanks for reading me ramble on about our awesome PTA group and I'm excited to get started.  I encourage you that if you haven't joined your child's PTA yet, check it out.  Maybe you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.  :)  

Planning the Weekend

I'm so glad you can't see my dining room right now.  Keep in mind, I've been going pretty much all week.  I have BOXES on the dining room table and stacked in the floor by my microwave.  They are boxes filled with toys.  I finally found a break between jobs to bring boxes of toys that I've had in storage into the house to go through them.  You would have thought that Christmas came to my kids.  We've got our huge stack of "To Sell."  Katie wanted to switch out toys for awhile, which means she wants to play with her Polly the Pocket roller coaster and accessories.  Now, I've got to find time to put the roller coaster together and if I can remember how to put it together.  Haha!  When we finished going through all the toys, I went ahead and put price tags on all of them.  Katie is so hoping to get $100 for all of her toys, so she can purchase the AG Caroline.  Ugh!  I told her that she needs to save her money.  Lord willing and Doug's help, I hope to put all of these boxes back out in storage and ready for "The Yard Sale" of the year.  More information will come later. 

I'm also slowly putting all the Spring/Summer home decorations in one place, so it will make it easier to pack up.  Katie and I are excited to begin decorating for Autumn and Halloween.  Speaking of Halloween, we are hoping to sneak out one day this weekend.  The Children's Place have their full sequin skirts on sale and I have TCP bucks that I've got to use up before Sunday.  I really hope our TCP have the skirts in stock for her size.  Wish me luck!  

My great nephew will be celebrating his first birthday this weekend.  Whitney is having a little family party at her house.  She is throwing him a Mickey Mouse party.  You just don't know, Zayden LOVES Mickey Mouse and it's theme song "Hot Dog, Hot Dog."  If he hears the song playing, he will stop doing whatever he is doing and begins looking for Mickey Mouse.  He is such a sweetheart.  

Hope you have a beautiful weekend and . . .

ROLL TIDE! 

A Bakin' & A Readin'

I really should finish washing my laundry, but I wanted to sit down and update you on the latest of all things Mason.

Last weekend, we watched on as the annual Fair Parade marched down our streets.  The fair queen and other pageant hopefuls made their way, waving the famous princess wave to all the little girls standing along the sides of the street.  The little girls' eyes all big with excitement and wishing that would be them one day.  Katie was one of those little girls.  Floats of all sizes graced us with their creativity.  Some voiced a political point of view, some celebrate the existence of Jesus Christ and others advertised for their business.  The best part of the parade, for the children, is the candy.  Candy, candy and more candy, thrown to the crowds by the parade participates.  The children running everywhere screaming, giggling and yelling as they grab and snatch the pieces of candy all along the road.  My little kiddos came away with a nice bag full to add to the candy bucket, located in our Kitchen.

When we were visiting relatives in Louisiana, Laura and I went shopping.  One of the fabulous places we shopped was Kohl's.  I just LOVE Kohl's!  I was just telling Laura about this mini pie maker that I found online at Williams and Sonoma.  I thought it would be neat (and pretty) to make these precious mini pies.  I thought this because last Autumn, I got on a mini pie making kick and baked a bunch of pies.  I made them the way I was taught by my mother (spoon a small portion of filling in the middle of a round  pie crust, fold over, dip a fork in flour and seal.  At Kohl's, Laura points out the mini pie maker in the cooking section of the store.  YAY!  The best part is it was on sale 1/2 off.  WHOO HOO!  I scooped up that little baby and off we went.

Mini Pie Maker sold at Williams-Sonoma pictured above.  

Mine is very similar, except mine is a Bella brand name.  

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try out my new mini pie maker.  I was so excited!  I've been wanting to make chicken pot pies.  I basically got an idea of what I would want in my pot pies and created.  I didn't take pictures because it was the first time I had ever tried the pie maker and I put too much filling.  Can you say "MESSY"?  They didn't look all that appetizing, but were delicious.  Even the kids LOVED them, which surprised me because I had chopped broccoli in it.  Shhh!  

My Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

2 Chicken Boneless, Skinless Breasts, chopped

2 cups finely chopped Broccoli florets

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup 

1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese 

1 can seamless crescent dough

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and set aside, except for dough.  Follow instructions on how to prep your mini pie maker. While the maker is pre-heating, go ahead and cut out the pie crust pieces.  

When maker is ready, place the dough down in the hot plate.  Be careful not to get burned!  Use a wooden spoon or the cutter to press it in place.  Pour 1/4 cup of filling inside the dough cups.  When completed, place the tops over the filling.  Make sure the dough covers all the filling or the filling will over flow.  Close the lid and lock. 

Bake for about 8-10 minutes.  This recipe will make about 8 mini pot pies.  

I didn't make 8 pot pies, so I had some filling left over.  I used it the next day to create a chicken casserole for the oven.

Note: The suggested amount of filling from the pie maker booklet said a heaping 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup.  Well, I used a 1/3 cup and caused it to overflow.  Don't make my mistake.   

It was so good and simple.  It was fun for kids to let the cheese string out, so they could gobble it up.  Katie asked me what the green stuff was.  "Is is broccoli?"  she asked.  I told her no.  "What is it?" she insisted.  I told her it was my special spice to make it taste so good.  She agreed it was good and said she would like for me to make it again, but with out the biscuit.  She's not much of a biscuit person.  Honestly, it would probably taste better using plain pie crust.  

Katie is still doing great in school.  I got educated yesterday from a friend that's a teacher about A. R., Accelerated Reading.  Our class gets to visit the school library twice a week, instead of once a week like last year.  They all check out two A.R. books and if they read them twice before the next library visit, the students get to take a A.R. test on the computer.  The computer will keep up with each students A.R. points.  At specific times of the school year, the students/class rooms with the most points receive rewards like pizza parties, ice cream parties, etc.  Katie is all about taking these tests.  If she didn't get to read her book twice at home, she pulls it out during reading time at school just so she can take her test.  LOL!  I'm glad she's motivated.  Speaking of motivated, she is all crazy about the "Black Lagoon" books.  Right now, one of her favorite is "The Teacher from the Black Lagoon." Scholastic sells "The Black Lagoon" books, so I ordered Katie 4 of the books online.  I know 4 sounds like an awful lot, but one package had 3 books for $7.99.  These are the books that Katie said she loved reading at Mrs. M's class.  As I was scrolling down the list online, I noticed one "Black Lagoon" book was $1.99.  Not bad at all, especially since these books normally sell for $3.59-$3.79 each.  

She gets so tickled reading these books.  She told me, I had to get her at least one for our library.  Today, she brought home a couple for the A.R. points and they were pretty funny.  I'm glad she has found a series of books that she can't put down. 

Last night was our school's annual book fair.  What was different from the years past is we got to have it at Books-a-million.  Wow!  Our school teachers read stories to the children, while us moms shopped.  I figured they would have a limited section that would benefit the school.  Nope!  It was the whole store that gave the school a percentage per sell.  I thought that was awesome.  Katie picked the first two book series of "Winx Club."  She's seen the cartoon on Nickelodeon.  Walmart also has the dolls displayed on their shelves with Barbie dolls.  Katie is still interested in American Girls and loves the new AG Caroline.  They had the doll on display at the BAM store.  Katie and her girlfriends were going on about the doll, wishing they had one.  This particular doll will be awarded to one special little girl that her mother entered her.  I put Katie's name in about a week ago.  She was so surprised when I told her.  Of course, I had to remind her that she just has a chance to win the doll and she may not get it.  I have to admit that it is a pretty doll, probably one of the prettiest out of the AG dolls.  I've been trying 

get her to try to read the books.  I think she's just scared that she won't like them.  She just likes the dolls, games and movies.  Ugh!  And it could be that the books are for a more older audience too.  Colton insisted that he bring home a Captain America stuffed action figure instead of a superhero book.  That's our Colton!  

I'm so bad about putting books down just to pick up a different book to read for awhile.  I put down my book I've been reading since last Winter "Just Perfect," to pick up a Beth Moore book.  Have I told you lately that I just LOVE Beth Moore?  She is AWESOME!  Right now, I've been reading her book  "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things."  I absolutely can relate to the situations and experiences in this book, one way or another.  It has been eye opening, inspiring and blessing to read and learn.  If you love Beth as much as I do and haven't read this book.  GET IT NOW!  You will get a blessing out of it.  

September is almost over!  It's hard to believe the holidays will begin soon.  YAY!  I've enjoyed seeing all the creations and cute ideas for Halloween over at eighteen25.  If you have an opportunity, please check them out on their blog or Pinterest.  I have a couple Halloween creations in mind that I would like to do.  I think the temperature change has got Katie all giggly and ready for the holidays.  We've been so blessed with cool temps with a nice breeze.  Ahhh!  So nice.  Normally, I have the house decorated for Autumn right now.  Well, I'm falling behind along with everything else.  Lord willing, in a couple of weeks, we'll have all the Spring/Summer decorations packed up and bring out the golds, browns, and sunburst schemes.  I think Katie has decided on her Halloween costume.  I've talked her into dressing up Pop Rock Star.  I've planned a shopping trip to get her sequin skirt, leggings and top from The Children's Place.  I hope they have what we want in stock.  She's just excited she will finally get to wear her fully sequin boots.  LOL!  She wants her hair colored and have glitter, but I can't convince her to have her hair up a little and tease it.  I showed her a picture of a rock star online from Party City and she said the model looked cool.  The model had the 80s hair and Katie seemed to like it.  Let's hope she'll let me do it.  Aqua net, here we come!  One request from her on the whole costume is she must have a painted star on her eye.  She would prefer glitter on the star, but I told her that could be a problem.  I don't want glitter to get in her eye and cut it, which would be my luck.  

So moms, any suggestions on how I could fulfill her request on the star?  I'm listening.  

Smoked Tuna Dip Recipe

Smoked Tuna Dip Recipe
1 small can albacore tuna, drained well
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened slightly
1 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon worcestershire
scant 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
dash or two of Tabasco sauce
paprika

Blend all the ingredients together with mixer.  Adjust seasonings to your liking. Sprinkle paprika on top for decoration.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Doug and I like to order Smoked Tuna Dip when we eat at Cajun Steamers Restaurant.  They serve it with crackers.  Yesterday after church, he was hungry for this dip.  Unfortunately, it takes about an hour or so to drive to Cajun Steamers.  He found this recipe online from Pinch My Salt.

Salsa Recipes (All Heats)

My niece has grown a huge garden, from what it sounds, and now she has all of the tomatoes.  She was interested in her uncle Doug's salsa recipes.  I couldn't believe I haven't posted these recipes before, but they are very good.  Watch out for the habaneros!  This comes from experience.  :)


Mild Salsa 
makes 1 Quart 

2 Cans Mexican Style Tomatoes (Stewed)
1 Medium Bell Pepper
1 Small Onion
4 Garlic Cloves (2 Tablespoons of chopped)
4 Jalapeno Peppers without seeds
1 Teaspoon Cumin Spice
1 Tablespoon Cilantro/Coriander Spice

Place ingredients in chopper or blender and combine to desired consistency.

Hot Salsa
makes 1 Quart

2 Cans Mexican Style Tomatoes (Stewed)
1 Medium Bell Pepper
1 Small Onion
4 Garlic Cloves (2 Tablespoon of chopped)
4 Jalapeno Peppers with seeds
2 Habanero Peppers with seeds (IF CAN'T FIND USE 4-5 JALAPENO'S W/SEEDS)
      (Red Habanero's are real hot.  If you want it hotter, you can add 2 more)
1 Teaspoon Cumin Spice
1 Tablespoon Cilantro/Coriander Spice

Place ingredients in chopper or blender and combine to desired consistency.


9-11 Salsa
makes 1 Quart
"Make at your own risk" 

2 Cans Mexican Style Tomatoes (Stewed)
1 Medium Bell Pepper
1 Small Onion
6 Garlic Cloves (2 Tablespoons of chopped)
8 Jalapeno Peppers with seeds
1 Teaspoon Cumin Spice
1 Tablespoon Cilantro/Coriander Spice

Place ingredients in chopper or blender and combine to desired consistency.

*1 Habanero is 10 times hotter than 1 jalapeño, use with caution!  Use surgical gloves when cleaning peppers and dispose of after use.  Do not touch any part of your body until hands have been thoroughly washed.

Trust me - you will want to use surgical gloves and a well vented around when working on Habanero peppers. 


Enjoy!

You Have the POWER

A friend of mine, Richard, was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.  It has been determined that Richard's best hope for a cure is a bone marrow transplant.

Help us find a donor for all patients who need a marrow transplant by taking a few minutes to sign up.  A completed consent form and cheek swab is all it takes to potentially save a life.  Take the first step.  Join the marrow registry!

You have the power to save a life. So,

JOIN. GIVE. VOLUNTEER! 

Join the registry:

Wednesday, September 12th 

2:00PM-6:00PM

at

Northbrook Baptist Church 

To join, you only need to be between the ages of 18-60, be willing to donate to any patient in need and meet the health guidelines.

Please give what you can. Every $100 raised helps us add another member to the registry.
Richard's Registry on Be The Match Foundation

To join, give or volunteer with "Be The Match," contact:
Rachel Harris
rharris@nmdp.org
(205)552-9371

Kids Are Funny

Katie was excited to tell me as soon as I picked her up from school today that Mrs. M passed out caterpillars to every student in class. She was a little disappointed that Mrs. M discouraged any excessive decorations to the little caterpillar's temporary home. LOL! Katie told me that she just wanted her caterpillar to think he was living in the jungle. (So sweet) She also informed me not to send anymore snacks to school.  Confused, I asked her why?  She said, "whell, we never have time for snacks, so I guess we won't have snack time anymore.  We ran out of time at recess on Tuesday.  Time got away from us during Art and Music class yesterday and today.  Don't bring a snack because I'll never have time anymore to eat it."  She sounded a little disgusted.  LOL!  I told her that I would continue to pack a snack until Mrs. M tells me not to.  I assured her one day, they may have time for snack.  Their recess and snack time is towards the end of the day, so I can understand not having snack time.  

Colton can say the silliest things. When we got home and I sat his chicken nuggets and Powerade in front of him, out of the blue he said "what is going on here?" He is such a nut. Speaking of the Powerade. This morning, I fixed Colton's milk sippy and chocolate milk sippy. I always fix the two because I never know which one he will want first thing in the morning and I get tired of trying to reason with him. Today, he threw a wrench in my usual morning routine. He told me that his milk tasted yuck. What? I just bought the gallon milk the other day and it was fine. I handed him his chocolate milk and I got the same thing. What is going on with this child? He only ever drinks milk. Usually the only time he drinks something other than milk is when we go out to eat. I about passed out when he asked to drink Powerade in his superman cup. Well, okay then. He picked out what color he wanted. Would you believe he drank it all day? This is not like him. Our little man is growing up.

Possible Autumn Artwork

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Mirya on Pinterest

I had to share this idea with you today. The idea came from Jeanna Hayes and posted on Eighteen25 for their 2012 Spooktacular Issue.  I think this creative silhouette picture is a brilliant idea for my children.  I think it is so beautiful and would make a great keepsake.

 

HEY! Respect W. Kentucky Y'all!

In Wednesday's Media News Conference, Nick Saban cleans the media's plow for not giving W. Kentucky, upcoming opponent, respect for the team or program.  I Love It!

ROLL TIDE!!!!

For Labor Day, we decided to spend some time with our Louisiana relatives.  It was very relaxing and enjoyable.  THANKS GUYS FOR A NICE WEEKEND!  WE LOVE YOU! 

The kids absolutely LOVED hanging by the pool Saturday and Sunday.  We pretty much had to keep Colton's froggy on him the whole time, he was around the pool.  He liked to walk too close to the pool for me and Doug to breathe easy.  Oh. my. gosh.  I could feel muscles that I haven't felt in a while the next day after swimming.  Shew!  I told Doug that I need to swim laps every day, it would do me a lot of good.  I'm sharing some photos below: 

 

We arrived Friday night real late. Alise shared her sleep mask with Katie, so they are guaranteed a well rested night sleep.

   

Girls giggling about the masks

They dove right into the pool soon after breakfast Saturday

We had to make Colton set out every now and then because he was so cold.  

I think all the kids grew fins that day.

 

Sun bathing

 

Momma's Little Mermaid

 

. . . and Nemo!

 

Wayne getting Colton to warm up to him with Hershey candy bars. LOL!

 

Wayne playing Captain America with Colton in the Living Room. PRICELESS!!

 

All the children had to get their iPads ready for game time. LOL! I had to get a picture of this.

 

Bama Girls are ready for 1st game of the new season

 

Our Bama Kids!

 

Colton watching Avengers on YouTube

Doug had a great day on Saturday - Auburn lost and Alabama won!  Whoo Hoo! 

 

Donna and her grand-baby. PRECIOUS!

 

Our guys frying up some fish and watching the game at the cook shack

 

ROLL TIDE Y'ALL!

 

YUMMY!

 

Eating some mac-n-cheese

 

Our shopping day! A much needed day for me

 

Wayne wanted a close up. He did good. 

 I think it turned out to be a good picture of us.

 

Our sweet adorable angels!