It's gonna be a BIG week!

Happy Monday!  It is going to be a BIG week around here!  We have Mother's Day Out, 7th Grade Football, Parent/Teacher Conferences, Kids out of school for Parent/Teacher Conferences, Halloween Party at the Country Club, Halloween Parties at school, a BIG high school football game Friday night, a birthday party, and Halloween Parade! Shew! I'm tired just thinking about it!   John Stephen is going as a Chicken!  It will be cute!  I just worry that he will be hot- the costume is furry and the high on Sunday is 79*!

John Stephen doesn't have Parent/Teacher Conferences, but if he did I feel like they would suggest we work on his table manners! 

Do you watch Pawn Stars on the History Channel?  Don loves it!  Anyway, I keep forgetting to mention that Don has borrowed a nickname from that show for John Stephen- BIG HOSS!  It makes me laugh so hard!  He is big, but he is soooo sweet and cute- not at all BIG HOSS material!  His wild streaks are showing though, and this week I have found great comfort in ELMO!  He has saved me a couple of times!  The funny thing about John Stephen watching Elmo is that he will STAND on the sofa and watch like he is mesmerized!!

I will be back soon with some pics from Halloween! 

Sometimes...

Sometimes John Stephen has to RUMBLE!  He gets antsy, and he NEEDS to GET OUT!  The signs are always there- sweeping items off of the coffee table, ripping pages from his books, turning the tv on and off, getting in the trash can and pulling out trash...You get the picture! 

 And, when those times come upon us, we are glad that we live very close to a little park!

 Daddy joined us on a little outing recently- good to have another "swinger"!

 Too little for the teeter totter!

Have a good day!!

Dirty Little Secret

Last night Don took the big kids to the high school football game.  I wanted to take John Stephen, but he is hard to control these days!  Without a stroller I wouldn't have a prayer!  And, sadly, the stadium is not stroller friendly!  So, after I pouted about being left behind for a few minutes, it occurred to me...John Stephen goes to bed at 7:30...Then I would be ALL ALONE...with NOBODY to clean up after, cook for, or supervise...HMMMM. What would I DO WITH ALL OF THAT FREE TIME? 

OK, this is a TOTAL REDNECK recipe!  It is not really something you want to serve at an elegant dinner or take to a party.  If you have ever made this Apple Dumpling Recipe then...YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK!  So I prefer to shroud my preparation of this little dish in secrecy!  It's not good for my image! 

Ok, so it's easy!  Just peel and core 2 Granny Smith Apples,and cut into 8 pieces each. Then roll them up into crescent rolls, and place in a greased casserole dish. Melt 1 cup of butter, and add 1and 1/2 cups sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Pour over the dumplings along with 12 oz of Mountain Dew! (I know, yuk! And, sadly if you buy a 2 liter bottle you will have some rowdy kids for the remainder of the weekend-it is like crack for an 8 year old!)

Then you put it in a 350* oven for 35-45 minutes. I got the recipe off of All Recipes, but it is on a million websites. After putting it in the oven you will want to look around to see if your baby is ok with that bowl on his head!

Then, I suggest you put the baby to bed, and take a bite of this wonderful, redneck, concoction!  YUM!

So there it is, True Confessions on the blog!  A Dirty, Little secret that is really a good fall dessert!  And kids love it! 

A Little Birthday Dinner

This is a short little post, but I wanted to post a pic of my "Tablescape" for Don's Birthday Dinner.  Now, if you are related to me and you are wondering why you didn't get invited to this Birthday Dinner, it is because I planned it two hours before we ate it!  And, really, it was just supposed to be white chicken chili chased by a little Chocolate Praline Torte!  Since Don was celebrating his 45th in Canada, we had to just celebrate upon his return.  And, since I was pretty sure that he would not want 45 candles on his cake, I decided to make this little cake bunting!  You may have seen them on the Internet lately.  Several blogs I read have shown cakes with these little cuties, and I thought- "I can do that!"  The pottery is sort of a local obsession in these parts- made by Mississippi and Arkansas Delta Potters- I mixed McCarty's, Peter's, and Miller's Mud Pottery.  It works for almost any casual occasion, and I love it.  The leaves are from Williams Sonoma.  The bunting is scrapbook paper taped onto some gold ric-rac and tied to a couple of bamboo skewers!  It was fun setting the dining room table on a whim!!

Two Years Ago...

...I Got Married!  YEA!  It was a LONG TIME COMIN"- at age 34!  I was really glad to have finally found my "Mr. Right".  Since we were a little on the older side, and a big local wedding seemed a bit much, we headed down to the Big Easy with about 100 of our nearest and dearest and tied the knot!  It was a really fun weekend and a perfect way to begin our lives together!  Happy Anniversary, Dear.  I love you!