Around Here...

Well it only took from August 28th until last week for us (Don)  to put together the wagon that we bought for John Stephen for his first birthday!  We have perfected the Art of Procrastination around here!  Once we got her all put together we went for a spin around the yard!  I think he liked it!

And we also have been running around outside looking quite dapper in my brother Rafe's "heirloom" sailor coat!  Everyone knows that I love classic baby clothes, and they aren't easy to find these days!  We feel very blessed to enjoy such a beautiful coat!

And, we finally took pics for the Christmas Card!  It took an Act of Congress to get all three kids here and dressed at the same time.  Not to mention how hard it was to get all three looking happy-smiley-cute at the same time!  This is not the shot I chose for the card- that I will save for later!

And in other news...

-We took Pax to his FIRST Razorback game last weekend!  Hogs beat LSU!  It was fabulous and FUN! 

-Wondering if Hogs will go to our FAVORITE city (NOLA) for the Sugar Bowl??

-Great Birthday for me- #37!  The best part was that I had gotten confused and thought I was turning 38 until a few days before!  So, I feel young now!

-I have been scraping wallpaper for a few weeks!  The hall bath is looking pretty!  I'll post pics soon! 

-Put a tree up in Sydney's room and John Stephen thinks it is MAGICAL!  He loves it, and I love that!

-Went to mini storage this afternoon to get Christmas decorations, and lost my keys inside the very messy hoarder paradise! It started to get dark before I uncovered them and was able to drive home!  CRAZY!

-Going on a two day adventure to Little Rock/Hot Springs.  Hope to get to shop a little- haven't started Christmas shopping yet!! '

-Had my Traditional Pre-Christmas Emotional Break Down this morning while trying to get to a meeting, digging out from under four baskets of dirty laundry, surveying my disgustingly dirty house, and my cranky baby, and very cranky husband!  Whew!  Glad that's over!  Things are still a little nuts here, but I feel the LOVE! 

Wishin' and Hopin'

OK, I know this is selfish, but I have been thinking about a few items that I would love to see Santa bring down my chimney this year!  And, since my Mom and my Husband both like ideas...here are a few things I like for my two loyal readers!

These are Merrells, and I like them because they are easy to slip on!  I always find myself in yoga pants, a fleece and white socks when I need to run to the grocery or to drive carpool, and my little black slip on tennies look terrible!  All I can see is the black shoe/white sock thing, and I hate it!  OK, moving on...

The Kindle!  Now $139 on Amazon!  This is AWESOME!  I can read a book at home in my small, little town that has no bookstore whenever the mood hits!  I can see myself on lazy Sunday afternoons just downloading a great book when the boy is sleeping and being able to upload titles that my friends recommend to be in my lineup! So cool!

LL Bean Tote- I want a BIG one for taking sheets and towels to the lake!  It doesn't need to zip.  And I don't care what color!  A classic!

There are a few other items on my wish list, but I do not have photos...

-an address stamp with my new address

-a noise maker to drown out a certain someone's snoring!

-and a REALLY long gold necklace/pendant.

- an INA GARTEN cookbook- Isn't she awesome??

And that is all I have come up with so far- isn't it enough?  Hope you have started your wish list!  Just in case you were wondering, we are not really doing well on my HOLIDAY ORGANIZATION PLAN.  I'm not really shocked.  I am going to slam it into gear next week, and have my scheduled nervous breakdown in two weeks- right on track!  But I have been doing some home improvement projects that will be featured ASAP!  Have a good weekend!!

 

Free Range Chicken

Things have been so crazy around here that I almost forgot to post pics of our Free Range Chicken!  I was calling him a Funky Chicken until we tried to wrangle him for a couple of pics before the Thursday night Halloween Party- that is when his true identity as a Free Range Chicken was revealed to me! 

There is a neat parade in our old neighborhood that we went to again this year!  John Stephen's buddy was there!

Lots of kids come and they have games and fun stuff for the kids all along a beautiful street.

We caught up with Sissy bobbing for apples!  The Raggedy Ann costume won "Best Costume" in John Stephen's age group!  It was soooooo cute!

Free Range!

Sydney the Vampire with John Stephen the Free Range Chicken! 

Tuesday Night Lights?

Well, the seventh grade football season is over.  The team was 2-2-2!   Every Tuesday night we went to watch the games, and we usually had quite a crew!  Don's mom went to almost every game- that is commitment for someone who just turned 81 years old!  Tons of family members turned out to support the team and to cheer Pax on!  Let me tell you, this family takes their sports seriously!  

Paxton played Tight End and Defensive End.  And he occasionally played Quarterback.  We were all very proud of him, and the last couple of games showed that things were really starting to "click" for our boy! 

You can see in the huddle that Pax is quite a bit taller than the other seventh graders- They come in all shapes and sizes! 

Getting a drink after playing both offense and defense!  It was a good season.  Pax had an interception, and a fumble recovery that were highlights for us!  Now we are taking a break from athletics for a little while.  I think he is going to play on the church league basketball team which is sort of low key.  Now we can focus on school and fun! 

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!