Finished Product

Just in case you were wondering about the paintbrush prowess of my 3 year old. ::grin::

For full disclosure's sake, I painted the handprints. But Poodle was the artist-in-residence for the ornaments.

This was what I signed up for.

Okay, see, Jmk and I started buying a meaningful ornament for ourselves starting with our first Christmas together. These days, getting to Hallmark together is more of a job than fun, and shopping online for the ornament just doesn't have the same feel to it. Sooooo, the kids and I just made up a batch of ornament dough, cut them out into fun shapes, and I'll let Poodle go crazy with the paint for the "special" tree ornament! We'll just write the date on the back. Who needs Hallmark? (And all the extra ones are likely to find themselves serving as gift tags).

We even did handprints of both Tooter and Poodle. heehee.... THIS is the kind of thing I signed up for in my mind when I thought about being a SAHM during the Christmas season. This was so fun!

Thus, for all parents so inclined - here's the recipe I used. But I think you should Google "ornament dough" and find a recipe that calls for a 2 to 1 flour to salt recipe. Mine needed extra water, and it didn't specify an oven temperature. (I think 300 degrees is probably best. I tried 200 and 250, and I don't think that was quite hot enough).

Overall, it's easy breezy - go have FUN!!!

Pancakes are Pink.

Way back when, I made pink pancakes for Poodle's bday.... her 2nd I think. Since then, we only have pink pancakes. And, we have pink pancakes OFTEN. Not a big deal. Except that Tooter has seen nothing BUT pink pancakes. And he quite enjoys his pink pancakes these days.

I wonder what he's going to think when he sees a real pancake. The poor thing has no idea that pancakes are not technically supposed to BE pink.

I need to go get some camo on the boy. Yeesh.

Website Update

Can you even believe that I already have November's pictures uploaded? Shocking, but true! See the top of the blog for the website address.

Military Hero - another side

I actually caught this very story on t.v. when I was flipping channels one day. (It was a news commentator that I never watch, but the picture is what made me stop flipping). I wanted to share it with everyone, but didn't have a good link to do so until my cousin, Bryan, sent these to me:

Snopes link
Military link

Such a beautiful story of the GOOD work that our faithful military is doing!!!

I want that oven.

Picture the scene:
Christmas decorations are not finished.
House is definitely not clean.
Laundry is nowhere close to complete.
Still in pj’s at 8:30am, even though I’ve been up with the kids since 6:30am.

As you can see, I certainly didn’t NEED to be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Poodle. But, Toot was taking his nap, and she asked so sweetly, and quite frankly – sometimes all that other stuff can just wait.

So, there I am watching a thought provoking ::cough:: little diddy about Minnie’s surprise birthday party while cuddling with Poodle on the couch.

They put the cake batter (made from just eggs, milk, and flour mind you) into a single 9” round baking pan and put it into the clubhouse oven. And in 15 minutes they pull out a perfectly complete 3 layer cake, beautifully iced, already lovingly placed on a delightful serving platter.

Uh HUH.

Do you think that model comes in stainless?

Fun with Christmas catalogs

This year we have been particularly inundated with obscure catalogs - companies have been spending quite a few bucks buying mailing lists, it seems. We received one yesterday from Herrington, I think it was. It's essentially a gift catalog. Anyway, as I was breezing thru it, something caught my eye. The product isn't the funny thing - the name of it is brilliant! Had to share.....

(You may need to click on the picture to be able to see its name).

You want to eat what?

Our dear Tooter, practically overnight, decided that he no longer required the services of baby food, leaving us with a freezer full of homemade eats for him. That, however, isn’t really the issue. The issue at hand is the fact that his diet for the past couple of weeks has consisted of goldfish crackers, peeled apple slices, and milk. Ahthat’s it. I mean, he won’t even eat yogurt – his favorite food from not too long ago. But, Jmk and I have done our duty and continued to offer foods over and over again, hoping something will stick with him. Well, yesterday, something did.

He decided he would eat green peas!

Frozen.

MmHmmm.

Directly from the freezer. As in no heat added AT all, thank you very much.

::shrug::

Hey – whatever works. About 14 years from now, Lord willing, we probably won’t be able to keep enough food in the house for him.

Wednesday morning update: he actually put a few bites of scrambled eggs into his mouth! Woohoooo! At least he’ll eat those cooked.

Website Update

You know the drill. Website address explained up there at the top of the page. October pictures are finally posted!

Pic from Thanksgiving

Not sure who actually took this one, but Steph just sent it to me. That's Poodle with cousin Robert, the handsome groom-to-be!!!

By the way, we apparently have some extra Prissy around the house now, if anyone needs some. ::wink::

Check Ups and Updates

We sort of disappeared last week from the Blog world! It was a busy one. Jmk's dad, PopPop, went into the hospital on Tuesday for heart issues (he had a heart attack, well - 2 actually, 10 years ago), and just got released yesterday. (Yay for being back at home!) I don't know how much he would like for me to be sharing online, so we'll just say that while everything isn't "fixed", he was well enough to go home, and praise the Lord for that! We love you PopPop!

Tuesday night, the stars aligned properly, and all of my siblings were under one roof for about 2 hours. (obviously, that doesn't happen very often). Everyone was over at our house for a brief time. L was down from Nashville, and D came over from Birmingham, so we gathered! Jmk had been up with PopPop during the day, but SueSue spelled him and he came home to the craziness of my family. Good man.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We left Thursday morning for Gulfport, and spent the day with Jmk's aunt and that side of the family. (Came home Thursday evening). It was wonderful, and Aunt J's house looked amazing. It is extraordinary how much she and DB have been able to accomplish since Katrina. I mean, if you didn't know that she had done some interior updating, you'd never know that flood waters gutted their home.

I had wanted to tour the Coastline a bit while I was there, but didn't get a chance with all the baby chasing and food eating that we did. However, we took the long way to J's house and drove down Hwy 90 from 49 to Courthouse Road.

All I can say is wow. First thing that got me was not being able to tell where I was. I think I was expecting complete desolation or something, but it wasn't quite like that. It amazed us how many of those big beautiful live oaks were still standing. But, see, that's all that was there. The big houses were all, just, gone. The large home where I learned to ballroom dance - gone. Chimney's (the new one) - gone. Just not there anymore. I couldn't tell where I was. When we were coming up on the Courthouse road intersection, I told Jmk that I thought this was where we turned left, but I wasn't sure until we got up on the road sign. Because all of my visual landmarks were just not there.
It was weird.

What struck me is how tired everything seemed to feel. Not tired in a "everything looks run down" sort of way. Because I saw some brand new gorgeous homes already erected. But the spirit down there just seemed in dire need of some rest. You can imagine.
I was sort of disturbed by the time I got to J's house, and that was from the tiny little bit that I had seen. I can only imagine what has been in the hearts of those who live there and are working to literally rebuild not just homes but an entire feeling and state of mind.

I lived in Gulfport for a couple of years after college, and it IS true that Mississippi is a different state below I-10. In a good way - don't misunderstand. So, working to rebuild that coastal state of mind is going to be an ongoing thing. I know it will return, though. As long as the coastline doesn't turn into one big casino. If THAT happens, then things really will feel different.

ANYway..... so, we are back to "normal" life now. Jmk is back at work. (Took most of last week off). Tooter has the sniffles again. Came down with those on Friday evening. We're all in the "get back into it" mode.

The kids both had checkups this morning. Poodle had her 3 YO checkup, and Tooter had his 1 YO checkup, with shots. They both are looking good and are right on track with height and weight and all that. Toot weighed in at 24 1/2 lbs. It's a good thing he's walking! Still, though, he's following the normal curve for babies. Not that they all weigh this much at this age. lol...... but, his weight IS slowing down as it does when babies aren't nursing as much and are graduating to table foods and are more mobile.

Poodle got to teetee in a cup for the first time, and in her words, "that was fun!" ::grin:: Here's hoping she doesn't think she "ought" to do that now she's at home.

We got some other meds suggestions for Toot's eczema, but as usual, the doctor just said to stay on top of it, and try anything that we think might help. Eczema is notoriously fickle from person to person, and what works for one doesn't necessarily help another.

And, just in case anyone actually remembers that I said 3 months ago that I wanted to lose 5 lbs by this visit.... well, I did. Hold on - don't think I did anything good. Between the stomach virus a couple of weeks ago, and a couple of other things that affected my weight, I did lose the weight. BUT, I didn't actually do anything to make that happen. So, I'm not exactly proud. Now, what WOULD be good is if I can lose another 5 lbs "for real" before his next checkup, which is in another 3 months. And this time, I need to do it by actually starting to exercise! Riiiiight after I get finished with the leftover pecan pie that my mom made. ::ahem::

Wow. This turned into quite the long post! If you have actually made it this far, I am extremely impressed!!! Thanks so much for checking in with us. Keep PopPop in your prayers, and don't let those tangled Christmas lights get to you this year. Love to all!

Happy Thanksgiving to All

From the Old School Hymnal, #10, song #156

Come, Ye Thankful People

Come, ye thankful people, come

Raise the song of harvest-home:

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin;

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied:

Come to God's own temple, come,

Raise the song of harvest-home.

All the world is God's own field,

Fruit unto His praise to yield;

Wheat and tares together sown,

Unto joy or sorrow grown;

First the blade and then the ear,

Then the full corn shall appear:

Lord of harvest, grant that we

Wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come,

And shall take His harvest home,

From His field shall in that day

All offenses purge away;

Give His angels charge at last

In the fire the tares to cast;

But the fruitful ears to store

In His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord quickly come

To Thy final harvest-home;

Gather Thou Thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin;

There, forever purified,

In Thy presence to abide:

Come, with all Thine angels, come,

Raise the glorious harvest-home!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KDBOO!

I hope you have a wonderful day today!!! The Zoo loves you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOTER!!!

To our precious, darling one year old Tooter Pooter!!! You are the belly laugh we work to hear and the smile we tickle to get. You are a blessing that we don't deserve but for which we are daily grateful. God was so good to us with not just your sister, but with you also. We love you so much, you precious, sweet little boy!!!

And, for everyone else, Tooter has said his first word! We were getting in the van after church yesterday, and as I'm buckling him into his seat, (we had already turned him around to face forward), he points right at Jmk and says "Dahdee".

At which point, Jmk steps away from the van, and does the "I'm the King of the World" pose. To which he gets a "yeah, yeah, yeah" from me. ::grin::

We had his first of 3 mini-parties yesterday. (He's having 3 small ones with various groups of family. I felt bad about planning one big affair this close to all the Thanksgiving gatherings, so we're working in several little parties as we are gathering anyway for the holiday. We'll have LOTS of cake smashing photos to share!)


Tooter - we love you so much. You're our groovy boy, and you never fail to make our hearts and faces smile!

A Cow WHAT?

A little history lesson..... waaaaay back in Junior High and High School, I engaged in the very serious business ::ahem:: of being a cheerleader. Did it for 6 full years. Graduated from HS as captain of the Varsity squad. And, in that time, we spent time selling a variety of things to help offset the cost of the various and sundry things that went along with being a cheerleader. Uniforms, shoes, camp costs, paper/paint supplies, and on and on. I have been responsible for selling a variety of things - the ones I can remember at the moment are sunscreen, sunglasses, candy, balloons, and spirit ribbons. (I know there were other things, but really, this was a LONG time ago). However, we didn't have the expenses or needs that a regular athletic team has.

So, when a couple of members of the girls' softball team from our local high school showed up at my front door last night, I was more than happy to buy a raffle ticket from them.

So, can you even begin to imagine what this raffle is for?

It is for their 3rd annual Cow Dump.

::cough::

For those who have heard of this prestigious fundrasier, carry on with your day! For those of you who have said, probably out loud, "cow what?", as I did last night, let me explain. At a Cow Dump, the team will lay out a grid on their playing field with a certain amount of numbered squares. Then, they will let a cow loose on the field.

For those who have started laughing, now YOU can carry on with your day. For the rest of you who are trying very hard not to have this crazy mental image, stay with me.

After letting the cow loose, they wait for the cow to.... well.... fertilize the field. And the person who holds the numbered ticket that corresponds to the... ah..... THE square wins $1000.

No, no - I'm not kidding. And, yes, I still bought the ticket anyway.

It's certainly a, um, creative fundraiser! Oh, who am I kidding. This is 12 year old boy'ish gross, but it's funny. Come on - deep down you know you want to laugh!

Only in the Deep South, honey. Only in the South.
And I wouldn't want to live anywhere else!

This is Insane.

~You gotta see this. But my apologies for any eewwww links that show up after it's thru playing.

Valetudinarian

Mmmhmmm, yep - I had to look it up too. Queen at The Beehive clued everyone into this cool deal, and because I have never read Emma, I thought I'd jump on it to have some Jane Austen in the house. They came in last Thursday. Lovely books!

But I'm barely into the first chapter, and I'm having to consult my dictionary already.

Although, truth be told, it's really a cool word. I'm going to have to find a reason to use it soon.

Thank You

To our veterans, to their families, to those who are currently serving. To everyone who has ever been involved in securing and insuring peace for this country. Our military and their families are one of God's amazing blessings to this great U.S.A.

From a grateful heart, with true appreciation for all the sacrifices. So many of which the rest of us will never know or understand.

You are loved!

The Stomach Virus Hitteth.

And hitteth hard! Poodle woke up from her nap around 2:15 on Wednesday, started throwing up, and continued every 10-15 minutes until about 9:30 that night. It took the phenergan a while to kick in. It hit me by 6'ish, and hit Jmk by 11'ish. I have no idea how Chunk managed to miss it, but praise the Lord, he did. His eczema is acting up, but that could be nothing more than I didn't have the energy to give him the skin care that he requires the past couple of days.

Wow, WE were a deathly looking bunch yesterday. Just miserable. Poor Tooter was as confused as he could be because of how pitiful everyone was. He was quite whiney by the end of the day.

BUT, thankfully, we're all on the way to feeling better today. Still a bit shaky, and all that. But the effects of the virus - you know what I mean - are under control. Yay for that! This thing is a stinker. If you happen to catch it, and I hope you don't, then just plan on writing off a couple of days, at minimum.

Yesterday morning, I looked around the pantry and realized that we had no jello at all. So, what does this strong-willed mother of two do in this situation? Make a quick trip to the store to get Jello for me and my ailing family? Noooooo......... I call MY mom! But she doesn't just bring us some jello from her house. No, she goes to the store and brings us jello (box and pre-made), goldfish and saltine crackers, sprite, yogurt, chicken and stars soup, and even frozen blueberry pancakes for when everyone is feeling better. This was while she was in the middle of making my dad's salad for lunch, getting the morning stuff done for Granny, and getting ready for work herself.

Thank you so much Mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOOMOO!!!

You are due a most wonderful day today!!! To such a beautiful woman and friend and sister in Christ.... I hope your day today gives you a chance to feel as special as you are! You've always given so much to so many - there are times I wonder how you juggled the "everything" that went along with four kids. Especially now that I'm beginning to see JUST how busy things will always be as a mom myself. But, then I realize that the great love that you always had for us just pushed you forward, and for that love, I am so grateful!!!

You are a dear soul and a beautiful person, and everyone at the Zoo hopes you have JUST that kind of birthday today!!!

We love you so much!