Friday, October 31, 2008

Alice In Wonderland

Londyn was very excited this morning about wearing her costume to school. I'm a little biased, but I think she makes a pretty precious Alice. On a sad note, Skylar is sick again today, so she will not get to enjoy Halloween with her friends. We're on day two, so hopefully she will be feeling better by this evening. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

We Do Feed the Children

For those of you who are concerned about the eating habits of my children, or are concerned that I don't feed them, here's proof that they do eat. Londyn's favorite food has always been corn on the cob, so Kevin surprised her with some for dinner tonight. She couldn't have been happier!

The Accident

So, about the car. Yesterday as I was on my way to a meeting, I apparently failed to yield (that's what the ticket stated anyway) at a back street intersection and was T-boned. It was a fun afternoon. Thankfully, the girls were not with me, and no one was injured. It could have been worse. I'm now over the pain of the deductible (I haven't actually paid it yet, but have mentally adjusted), and have a rental, so I'm able to get around.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

And I Complained About Boots?

What a day, what a day...............................

Free Dress Day

Yesterday, I let the girls pick whatever they wanted to wear. It was kind of a reward for cleaning their playroom in it's entirety, and partly because I was running late. They were ecstatic to wear their selections to school. I am surprised that I actually had it in me to let my children go to school like this.


Monday, October 27, 2008

Nail Polish, Suede Boots, Restraint....

On Fall Break, I enjoyed a little shopping and made what I believed to be an excellent purchase. I bought some flat black suede slouchy boots. They were perfect to wear to work because they look dressy enough to wear with skirts and comfy dresses, but were also very comfortable. This evening, I stopped by the salon to get my bushy eyebrows waxed and had the girls with me, so I told them they could get their nails painted while we were there. As we were browsing the colors, Londyn picked out orange which I agreed would be a very appropriate color for the upcoming holiday. I made the mistake of handing her the paint, while I picked out my color. Within seconds, she had dropped the bottle of orange nail polish on the tile floor. It splattered everywhere, on the floor, on the shelves, on everyone's nail care kits, and most unfortunately on my new favorite boots. I was proud of the fact that I did not yell, not even that under your breath kind of yell. I didn't scold her, and let her know how upset I was about the loss of my new boots. (for those of you that know me know how difficult this may have been to hold back my immense frustration)I calmy told her we would get her nails painted another day, and she appropriately said "OK". Bless the child's heart, she is the sweetest thing in the world, but very careless and clumsy. I am still however very saddened by the fact that my boots are ruined unless one of you has a miraculous way to remove nail polish from suede. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Halloween Cookie Pizza

This is another one of my favorite seasonal recipes. It's a great sweet treat that looks very festive, and tastes even better. Again, if I'm going to make it, it has to be quick and easy. I found this on the pillsbury website a couple of years ago. Have a great Halloween week!
INGREDIENTS
Cookie Pizza
1 (18-oz.) roll Pillsbury® Refrigerated Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup candy corn
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Icing
1/4 cup vanilla ready-to-spread frosting (from 16-oz. can)
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 12-inch pizza pan with foil; grease foil. Cut cookie dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices; arrange in bottom of greased foil-lined pan. With floured fingers, press slices to form crust.
2. Bake at 350°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled.
3. Using foil lining, lift crust from pan; carefully remove foil from crust. Place crust on serving platter or tray. Spread peanut butter evenly over crust. Sprinkle evenly with candy corn and chocolate chips.
4. Melt 1/4 cup frosting in small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until thin and of drizzling consistency.* Drizzle icing over cookie pizza. Cut into wedges or squares.

Good Guy Carnival

We had our carnival after church tonight, so the girls got to wear their costumes for the first time this year. They could hardly contain their excitement all afternoon in anticipation of getting dressed up. The girls will have several opportunities to wear their costumes this year, so this will probably be the first of many Halloween pics.















Prep Club

When I was in MO for Fall Break, my Grandma and I went shopping at the outlets at the Lake of the Ozarks. We found some great deals, and these outfits were one of my favorite purchases. They are from Gymboree's line last year, that I loved, but didn't buy. We found them at the outlet for a steal, so I thought I'd post a pic. I know it won't be much longer that I convince my girls to wear sweater vests and tall argyle socks with red patent mary janes, so I'm trying to take advantage as long as I can. Thanks Grandma, I hope you like them as much as I do! I think they look really grown up in this pic:(

Saturday, October 25, 2008

More Fall Fun


One of the ladies on my Learning Coach team at school hosted a hayride for our group. The weather was amazing, and the girls got another chance to wear their western gear. We had a great time together roasting hot dogs, making smores, drinking hot chocolate, visiting and the much anticipated ride on the wagon. (The girls got to ride in the wagon at my parents house last weekend, so they were very excited to go again. Londyn however was slightly confused. She thought we were actually going to Grammy Tammy and Papa's again.) Once again, I LOVE FALL!


















My Fave Fall Recipe

I'm not a recipe poster mainly because I don't cook much, but I just ate leftovers from Thursday night and was reminded how much I love this recipe, especially in autumn. So, I thought I would share it with you. For me to cook anything at all, it has to be super quick and easy. So, my favorite cookbook is my Taste of Home 5-Ingredient Cookbook. My favorite Fall recipe is Pork Chops with Apples and Stuffing.

Ingredients:
6 boneless pork loin chops (1 inch thick)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 package (6 ounces) crushed stuffing mix
1 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling with cinnamon

In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, prepare stuffing according to package directions. Spread pie filling into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-inch. baking dish. Place the pork chops on top: spoon stuffing over chops.

Cover and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Arrowhead Harvest Carnival

What could be more fun on a Friday night than attending an elementary school carnival? I had to volunteer tonight for our school carnival, so I thought I may as well let the family tag along. We all enjoyed the carnival food and a few games. The girls were a little timid around all the "big" kids, but had fun wandering around for a while. This was the first of the many weekend events. Tomorrow we have a birthday party and a chilli supper/hayride, and Sunday is our Good Guy Carnival at church. At least maybe I'll have a few things to blog about if I can find the time. I hope everyone is enjoys the fabulous fall weather this weekend!





Healthy dinner....



The biggest kid of us all!




Monday, October 20, 2008

'Tis the Season....

No, this is not my Halloween decor, but it is the nice surprise I had waiting for me on my living room curtains after my evening stroll. YUCK! I'm not a fan of spiders, not even at Halloween. I believe we'll be calling Terminex to make their interim visit. I don't know what kind of spider this is, but I do know that it was big and ugly. Anything that nasty has to be dangerous.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fall Break

We had a great Fall Break spending time in Missouri with my family. I got to enjoy several of my favorite things, and the weather was beautiful! We made some fun Halloween treats, played games, had a hayride and roasted marshmallows. It was a nice break from the norm, and it was fun having everyone all together to enjoy the festivities! It could only have been better if Kevin could have been there with us. Sorry for the excessive pictures, I had too many to upload one by one. Also, this is my first Windows slide show, and I couldn't figure out how to cut off the music. So, you can pause it after it says Happy Halloween unless you want stare at a blank screen and listen to Monster Mash! It's only an excessive 6:40 instead of 8:49!

My Mama's Aprons

This is me and my sister-in-law Kesha in the retro aprons my mom has been making. I love them, and can't wait to get my own! She's going to be selling them with my friend Kyler's stuff at an upcoming craft show. It should be quite an experience. I have no crafty talent to contribute, so I'm just trying to encourage everyone else to pursue theirs.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It's Here!

Finally, Fall Break has arrived. For me, it's one of the most anticipated breaks of the year. The start of school is always so crazy, so I'm always waiting for that first quarter to end and to get a nice little break. We will be leaving this afternoon for Missouri to visit my family. I can't wait! It will just be me and the girls, so hopefully it's a quick trip. Maybe they'll nap, what are the chances? Anyway, we can't wait to get there for some down home fall fun! Mom, we can't wait to see what fun fall and Halloween activities you have planned for us! Most of all, I'm looking forward to a few days of complete relaxation in jeans, hoodies and sweats. If you are someone who gets a Fall Break too, I hope you enjoy yours as well. If you're not, I'm sorry for rubbing it in.

Monday, October 13, 2008

My Greatest Weakness.......

That would be chocolate chip cookies. I LOVE chocolate chip cookies, and I LOVE to make chocolate chip cookies, because what I LOVE the most is the dough. When we make cookies, I eat enough dough to make myself sick every single time. I just can't stop myself. Then, by the next day, I will have eaten nearly all of the cookies. It's pathetic really. I'm pretty sure I've passed down that horrible weakness down to my children. I actually was off today because Londyn has been coughing for three weeks, and it sounded so bad this morning I thought I'd better take her to the doctor. She doesn't feel bad, just allergy stuff and the beginning of pneumonia. So, we were prescribed lots of meds and lots of rest. Anyway, that was the only reason I had the energy to spend the evening making cookies with the girls. They love to help bake, but I'm always in too much of a hurry to let them. It was a lot of fun, the girls were very cooperative and took turns. They even cracked the eggs themselves and left no shells, they were very proud! Please know that if I were to ever bring chocolate chip cookies to you that I would not allow my sick daughter to help, and I would not allow them to eat off of the spoon and continue to stick their saliva covered hands back into the bowl. However, when we're baking just for fun it's completely unsanitary, and I hope that doesn't gross you out. I also have to point out the girls' aprons. I think they are the cutest things ever. My mom made them for the girls a couple of years ago for Christmas along with a table cloth and place mats for their little kitchen. There's nothing better than getting to spend time in the kitchen and look cute doing it!






Friday, October 10, 2008

Farm Day

So, today was Farm Day at the girls' school. Last night, I started to gather some clothes for the occasion. Four hours, ten stores and a lot of money later, we have two happy girls ready for Farm Day!
2 huge pink princess cowgirl hats..........$20
2 pink plaid western shirts............$45
1 pair of cowgirl boots.....................$22
1 pair of hand-me-down boots......(thank heavens)
The feeling of being an adequate mother that actually remembered it was farm day, dressed her children accordingly and even remembered to send them with a sack lunch.........PRICELESS!
Notice that Skylar had to have her shirt tied in a knot over a tank before she would agree to wear it. She wanted the boots and hat, but wasn't sure about the shirt. She now loves it and can't wait to wear it again.


Yes, I know this is a little outrageous, however, they have dress up days about once a month and we usually do not participate because I forget or don't have time to creatively get something together. So, I decided that surely I can come up with something westernish. Not as easy as I thought, but we managed. Seriously, we live in Oklahoma, you would think that finding little girls cowgirl attire would be a simple thing. I must just not know where to look. Anyway, they LOVE their cowgirl clothes and you will be seeing many posts of them in these farm clothes as they WILL be getting good use of them this fall season. We may be declaring farm day at least once a week for the next couple of months.

Skylar's Art Gallery

Skylar loves anything and everything artsy. For her birthday, her Grandmommy and Grandaddy gave her an easel for her to paint on. Below are a few pieces of her work. She loves them so much, the bottom two are now taped to her bedroom wall. Notice she also really likes to paint the letters of her name.


Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Pumpkin Patch

I absolutely love fall, and one of my favorite things to do is visit the pumpkin patch. The girls love it too. We go every year, and the girls have the best time. They absolutely love running around trying to pick out a pumpkin. It always makes me laugh that they can run around the patch, but when it's time to walk back to the car they are too tired, and can't walk or carry their miniature pumpkins. Anyway, it turned out to be an absolutely fabulous day outside, and we were able to thoroughly enjoy it!








No News

It has been a pretty uneventful week. We've been busy as usual, but nothing blog worthy, just the day to day craziness. I thought it was time for an update though, so I've added a few pics from last Sunday afternoon. We took a little walk around downtown enjoying the warm weather. I thought we would do something fun outside today, but as of now it's storming. It looks like it may be an inside day.