Mo & Aunt Linda stop by

Yesterday my Mom and Aunt Linda were in town for L's doctor's appointment so they stopped by our house briefly to say hello. We were excited to see them and wish they could have stayed longer! Rhett had already had his shower and he was wearing his very small pajamas. I keep hiding these because he's outgrown them, but I guess I need to hide them better because he always finds them. If anyone knows where I can get these same PJs in a size 5, please let me know! :)

Thanks for coming by--come back soon!Tomorrow is the first day of probably my favorite month of the year! A friend called me today about a trip to the pumpkin patch...one of my favorite things every season! This weather has been gorgeous--I hope it continues! I was thinking tonight how thankful I am for seasons where we live. I love fall, but there are things that I love about every season. I know that after a few months I will be so anxious to see the colors of spring...it's a blessing to live somewhere with variety! Happy October!

My Strangest Friend

Me, Sandra and the kids (her little boy is just a few weeks older than Alexee).

This has been a busy but fun weekend! Friday night I went to the airport to pick up my friend Sandra and her husband and son (check out their blog sometime--they always post such neat things!). They have lived in China for almost four years, but they are back in the States until Christmas. Sandra & I became friends my sophomore year at OBU when we did a semester study abroad program together in Salzburg, Austria. While I was gone to help with Leslie's baby shower, Lane took our kids and Sandra & family to the church playground. When I called to tell them I was on my way home, I asked what they were doing and Lane told me that Shorel was making fajitas (Purple Cow was too busy after the playground trip). My next question was "out of what!?" He'd found a package of chicken in our freezer and an onion and some seasonings in the pantry. They smelled great when I got home--too bad I'd already eaten! I thought it was interesting because I guess I've gotten so used to the pre-packaged/convenience cooking that we have available at our grocery stores that it seemed to me like our fridge and pantry were bare. I don't think they have the same conveniences where they live--they are very good cooks and very resourceful!

After the baby shower, I drove them to a nearby town to pick up a car that has been loaned to them during their stay. While we were waiting for Shorel to get instructions from the dentist who was loaning the vehicle, we were sitting in the car and Sandra said, "I think I'm surely your strangest friend." I laughed and agreed, and said that was fine--it makes our friendship really interesting. She said that she always has strange requests...like the time not long ago that she e-mailed me from China and asked me if I could check out a few children's books from our library and type out the English version for her so that she could translate Schäfer's dinosaur books that were written in Chinese. I was happy to help--Rhett actually enjoyed the books while they were on loan.

It was really really good to see them and to meet their little boy for the first time--he's so sweet and smart! Thanks, Sandra & family, for stopping by!

Leslie's Baby Shower

Baby showers are so much fun! Yesterday I helped with a shower for my sweet friend, Leslie. She & Brad are expecting their first child, Avery Reese, in December. Our friend Connie hosted the luncheon/shower at her beautiful home. Connie had the flowers arranged in silver vases--they looked gorgeous! I LOVE flowers!
Lunch was chicken caesar wraps, a pasta salad, spinach dip with pita chips, mango salsa with blue corn tortilla chips and a mixed fruit salad. For dessert we had petit fours and sugar cookies with Avery's initials on them in the nursery colors--pink & brown.
Connie had this pretty wreath on her front door and she added letters to spell the baby's name at the top (made of cute scrapbook paper and attached to the wreath with those little plastic floral picks).


Connie gave me this recipe for the wraps:
--Multi-colored tortilla wraps (we used sun-dried tomato and spinach)
--Romaine lettuce, chopped
--about 5 chicken breasts, marinate overnight in Italian dressing, then grill. Cut into small pieces.
--Freshly grated parmesan cheese
--Bottle of Kraft Caesar Vinaigrette with Parmesan (toss lettuce, chicken and cheese in this dressing and roll into the tortillas). Pin them with a toothpick. I didn't think of it before, but I think an olive would have looked cute attached to the top. I might do that next time.
Connie had more cute scrapbook paper cut into small pieces. She asked each guest to write a "word of wisdom" on a card for Leslie. We took a picture of Leslie with each guest so that the picture and the wisdom card could be placed together in a cute pink & brown 4 x 6" album.
Leslie & Connie:
She received lots of cute gifts for Avery:


I can't wait to meet her little girl! Leslie and Brad are in our Bible Study group, and they are very special friends to us. We're so happy for them--they'll be great parents!

Compost

The kids were playing out in the back yard this afternoon while I worked in the kitchen. I peeked out to check on them and saw them sitting side by side, playing in the dirt. I quietly grabbed the camera from the kitchen and snapped a few pictures. They looked so sweet! I wonder if Alexee will ever like to play with dolls? It's fine if she doesn't...I think she prefers to throw rocks and dig in the dirt with Rhett. When R noticed me standing on the corner of the deck, he said, "We're making compost. Do you have any old food to get rid of?" He said they were trying to help the crepe myrtle grow better by putting compost around its roots. (He saw something about compost on Curious George a while back--he never forgets anything.)

This morning A wanted her toe nails painted. You can't really see them in this picture, but her little dirty, painted toes looked so cute I could hardly stand it!
I'm so thankful that R & A play so well together. She, of course, wants to do everything that he does. I think this actually makes him kind of proud. He's USUALLY really patient with her and wants her to play. A lot of times at night he'll ask if she can stay up just a little longer to play with him. I pray they'll always be close friends.

News!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..." --James 1:17

After dinner tonight we gave the kids ice cream for dessert and we sat out on the deck...

...we wanted to share some great news with them about our family...We're having another baby! Rhett's eyes lit up, he kind-of gasped and said, "When!?" We told him it would be a long wait. The baby would not be here until after his 5th birthday (I'm 12+ weeks now, due April 5). He was really excited (Alexee just kept on eating her ice cream). Then R said, "Two babies around here might be a lot to handle." :) Lane told him it would be a while before we knew if he would have a baby brother or another little sister. Rhett said he thinks it's a girl. We'll hopefully find out November 20th--my ultra-sound is scheduled for then. He also wanted to know if he could be at the hospital when the baby arrived. We told him that he and Alexee would be the first people to meet the baby!
We then gave them new T-shirts that say "I'm the big brother" and "I'm in the middle".

God is so good ! We're very very thankful and excited.

Our THREE beautiful blessings!

Will you please join us in praying for the health of this precious child!?

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfuly made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." --Psalm 139:13-14, 16

A fall recipe

UPDATE: I made this dip this weekend--it makes a HUGE amount! I should have realized this with the giant can of pumpkin and the two blocks of cream cheese (and the last part of the recipe that states "makes 7 cups"). Anyway, it was okay...if you like pumpkin flavored things. From year to year I try to convince myself that I like pumpkin foods, when in fact I really don't. I love fall and pumpkin decorations so much that I guess I feel like I should like to eat pumpkin pie, etc. Maybe one day I will acquire a taste for it...but I don't think it's going to be this season. If you do like pumpkin though, go for it with this recipe. But unless you're trying to feed your whole town, I'd half the recipe!

***

Winning Pumpkin Dip

29-oz. can pumpkin pie filling
4 cups powdered sugar (how could it not be good!?)
2 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
gingersnap cookies

Combine pumpkin, sugar and cream cheese in a serving bowl. Mix well; stir in cinnamon and ginger. Arrange bowl on a plate; surround with gingersnaps. Makes 7 cups.

*****

I haven't actually tried this recipe yet, but I plan to this weekend. It's from the Gooseberry Patch cookbook, Taste of Autumn, that Mom gave me a few years ago. It's such a cute cookbook because it has neat little serving and decorating ideas on each page. I love looking through it.

It's fun seeing pumpkin displays everywhere this time of year! This was in the lobby of Fresh Market when I stopped by today. Rhett & I pulled weeds and played outside for a while this afternoon. He likes to get the hammer and look for nails that need to be pushed back down on the deck. That's what he's doing here.

Bakery & Salon

This morning Alexee & I went by the bakery to pick up a dozen cookies (plus 2 extras, one for each of us). We sat at one of the tables and had cookies & juice for "brunch" (she'd had a real/healthy breakfast at home).
Then I took her by Debbie's to have her "baby mullet" trimmed in the back. It only took a second, and she didn't seem to mind it at all. It looks cute. I want it to get longer, but it really needed to be trimmed a little bit. She sat on my lap and scribbled on Post-it notes while Debbie snipped.

Tonight we had Community Group (Bible study) at our house, and I made Dump Cake for dessert. Have you ever made it? It's the easiest dessert ever--but delicious. You pour a can of cherry pie filling and a can of crushed pineapple into a 9x13" pan. Cover evenly with a yellow cake mix (dry). Add pecans to the top, if desired. Cut one stick of butter into thin slices and place the slices evenly across the cake mix so that it will melt and form a nice, even crust. Bake at 350 until golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Questions

MK sent me this list in an e-mail, and I thought it was fun so I decided to post my responses here. Please leave a comment if you decide to answer on your blog--I'd love to read yours...

"35 odd things about you"

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? Yes

2. Do you own a gun? Lane does, so I guess it's mine, too.

3. What's a favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee house? White Chocolate Mocha--decaf

4. What do you prefer to drink in the morning ? water or orange juice

5. Do you do push-ups? not really--never have been able to do them!

6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? wedding ring

7. Favorite hobby? painting

8. Do you have A.D.D? Possibly. I get bored easily.

9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? impatient

10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I'm getting sleepy, I should have skipped dessert tonight, I should go finish cleaning up the kitchen.

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. Water, iced tea, diet Coke, Sonic cherry limeades

12. Current worry right now? Is Rhett too hot in his bed--he's in his sleeping bag IN his bed, and he was sweating when I went to check on him.

13. Current hate right now? my hair is at a weird length...needs to be shorter or longer (Lane says longer, I like it shorter...what to do?)

14. Favorite place to be? with my family

15. Do you like to travel? Yes--love to! ...But we don't much anymore.

16. What color shirt are you wearing? an ancient, gray, long-sleeve OBU T-shirt

17. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? don't know--never have.

18. Can you whistle? barely--it's pretty pathetic.

19. Favorite color? warm fall colors mostly. and pink.

20. If you could would you be a pirate? probably not--I'm sure I'd get sea-sick.

21. What song do you sing in the shower? "church" songs--hymns, praise & worship music

22. Favorite girl's name? ...Alexandra? I've always loved the name Elizabeth since I was a little girl. I think it's one of the prettiest names ever.

23. Favorite boy's name? ...Rhett?

24. What's in your pocket right now? no pockets.

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? ????? Not something that made it into my long-term memory.

26. Worst injury? I've never had a broken bone...or stitches? Guess I'm not adventurous enough!

27. Do you love where you live? mmmm....we still miss our "old house", but this is feeling more like home after a year. I actually wish we lived in a house in the country, but Lane says I'd be scared to death. I miss "country life"--it's so nice and quiet at my parents' house.

28. How many TVs do you have in your house? Three

29. Who is your loudest friend? I don't really think of any of my friends as loud??? Maybe I'm just so used to the kids yelling that I don't notice!?

30. How many pets do you have? just Bogart--a miniature schnauzer

31. Does someone have a crush on you? I doubt it! That would be funny.

32. What is your Favorite Book? I'm not really much of a reader, although I wish I was. I think it goes back to the A.D.D. question above!

33. What's your favorite candy? Snickers, Junior Mints, Raisinets

34. Favorite Sports Team? ????none

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? "Running late again...looks like it's another day to put make-up on in the school parking lot."

Honey jars

Mom & Dad just e-mailed me these pictures tonight. Their bees produced over 10 gallons of honey this year, and they just finished pouring it into the jars. I thought the picture of them together was really cute. Hopefully there will be homemade biscuits and a jar of honey waiting for us next time we're home! :)

Monday Madness

Today has been a busy day...and I still need to be cleaning house right now because we're hosting Bible study tomorrow night, but I decided to take a brief blog-break. I dropped the kids off at MDO then ran home to start making lasagna for my Monday meal day. Then I left at 10:00 to go to a doctor's appointment, met Lane for a quick lunch, picked the kids up and came home and finished cooking. I did lasagna, fruit salad, bread and cookie-dough cupcakes. The cupcakes are really easy--it's an idea I got from my friend Kelly. You just slice up pieces of refrigerated cookie dough and drop a chunk into each serving of cupcake batter before baking. I used yellow cake mix with chocolate chip cookie dough and milk chocolate frosting, but you could do any combination. I think peanut butter cookie dough would be yummy?!

Then we left about 4:45 to deliver our meals. It's always good to be reminded that God is involved in even the small details of our lives...for the first two weeks of our meal exchange, I took Becca's family their meal first because they have a Monday night commitment and I want to make sure they have plenty of time to eat beforehand. I'd planned to do the same tonight, but then when I got to the 4 way stop (turn left to go to Becca's), I just kept driving straight (to Elizabeth's house) for some reason--not really even thinking about it. So I dropped her meal off, then went on to Becca's. Then when I left there, I called Ali because she lives in the same neighborhood and I needed to pick up something at her place. I stopped in her driveway to chat for a minute. I turned off the car....talked...tried to turn the car back on to head home...nothing....car wouldn't start. So I had to call Lane to come over to help. Ali entertained the kids (and fed them dinner--thanks, Ali!!!) while Lane and I worked on the car (well, L worked, I watched and tried to come up with helpful hints--none of which were actually helpful). I was so thankful that I'd taken Elizabeth's meal to her first today so that it wasn't sitting in the back of my car getting cold while her family sat at home waiting on it! I was also very grateful that my car battery decided to go bad in front of a friend's house instead of in Wal-Mart parking lot while Lane was at school or something very inconvenient like that! Anyway...long story not so short...Ali's husband Brian was kind enough to drive Lane all over town looking for a new battery so that I could bring the kids home in L's car and get them ready for bed. Lane finally got home at 8:00 and we ate the lasagna that I thought we'd be eating around 5:15!

These pictures were from yesterday, but I thought they were cute...look at the tattoos Alexee gave herself with markers. They're washable markers, but I think the "washable" applies more to clothing...on skin they just kind of have to wear off. I scrubbed her in the tub, but I could still see the art on her this morning. :)
Lasagna ready to go into the oven:
Fruit salad in the making:
I could eat a whole fresh pineapple by myself--yum! I sent poppy seed dressing to go with the fruit, but it actually wasn't the greatest dressing I'd ever tasted...it was the Kroger brand, I think. I won't buy that particular one again.
Forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes...but I've eaten two of them!

Okay, back to cleaning house. Goodnight!

The weekend here

A quiet weekend here...Friday night we all went to eat at Mimi's Cafe. I had the Grilled Veggie Ciabatta--yum! Saturday morning I went to the gym, then we played at home all day. Rhett rode his scooter outside for a while, and Alexee took a long nap. Saturday night my friend, Valerie, came over so Lane and I could go out for a date night. We had a great dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants then we stopped at Starbucks for coffee and sat outside and talked. (These cheesy pictures were obviously taken there. I forgot to have our picture made together before dinner.) It was a fun night out!
We had a great day at church today, then Rhett and I went to the grocery store while Lane studied and Alexee took another long nap. Rhett was funny at the store--he wanted to use one of the giant race car-carts that has no ability to turn. I kept bumping into things. I saw one of the partners from an accounting firm where I previously worked, and I almost ran over him with the cart! Rhett wanted me to hand him all the rectangle-shaped things so he could stack them next to him...he made sure to keep the Scooby-Doo fruit snacks on top "so they wouldn't get smashed". He insisted on handing items to the lady checking us out...I know this did nothing for the speed of the process, but there was no one behind us in line, and she was very sweet and patient to let him help--she even let him scan one thing. Then he wanted to help the guy at the other end bag the groceries. Then he wanted to push the cart to the car and help put the bags in the car. He was cute with all his helping, and it was fun to have a little bit of time just the two of us (even if it was at one of my least favorite places--the store!). We stopped by Sonic on our way home to celebrate surviving the Sunday afternoon grocery store crowd. Tonight I went over to Valerie's house to return the babysitting favor while she and her husband went out. It's always quiet at her house and I enjoy my time there without feeling like I should be doing laundry, putting away dishes, etc. I did my Bible study for our meeting this week and then looked through a fall cookbook...I've found a few new recipes I want to try...I'll post them here if they're good!

Hope you have had a great weekend!

More Park Time

Another beautiful, fall day! We met my friend Allie & her three kiddos at a different park this morning. It was good to catch up--we hadn't seen each other in quite a while! Rhett & Ella Marie--isn't E.M. so cute all dressed up in her dress and matching head-band to play at the park!


Rhett has been asking to stop by the library, so we did that on the way home today. Alexee had fun rearranging the displays. Rhett grabbed a few books and a Scooby-Doo DVD to check out. When we got in the car, Rhett said that I should check out some books for myself sometime...a sweet thought, but 1) how would I concentrate long enough to look for any books? and 2) when would I read them if I had them? (That's okay though--I don't really even like to read.) We'll have fun reading R's new books tonight at bedtime!